


Bad Medicine

by Aelia_D, bluekrishna, Inkess, lady_krios, thepurplewombat



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-04
Updated: 2014-08-16
Packaged: 2017-12-17 16:58:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 26,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/869853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aelia_D/pseuds/Aelia_D, https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluekrishna/pseuds/bluekrishna, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inkess/pseuds/Inkess, https://archiveofourown.org/users/lady_krios/pseuds/lady_krios, https://archiveofourown.org/users/thepurplewombat/pseuds/thepurplewombat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Garrus runs into a unidentified aphrodisiac, only one thing can help him. Garrus/everyone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Shepard

Chapter One

by bluekrishna

"It's not funny. It huuurts." His voice was a pitiful whine and did nothing to quell the soft giggles and snorts of the knot of women standing just inside the medbay doors.

Shepard fought to hold the impassive mask her face had become, though she felt her nostrils kept flaring with suppressed mirth. To have seen Garrus on the planet, seen how strangely he'd been acting on the shuttle ride back, moaning and grunting, shaking and she'd worried, no, panicked at the thought of him injured and then to find out the reason?

She tried to chalk her reaction up to a touch of hysteria with a big old dollop of relief and cleared her throat, turning to Mordin, "So, what did the tests say?"

"Compound unknown. Possible adverse reaction when came in contact with pineal and pituitary secretions, hormones, i.e. gonadropin, FSH, testosterone-"

Shepard held up her hands to stop the overflow of words from their very wordy salarian scientist. She interrupted, blurting, "What does that all mean?"

Chakwas, a smirk on even her face turned her toward the turian, "Garrus'...issues have to do with his hormones being completely out of control."

"How do we fix him?" She winced at her choice of words and at the burst of feminine laughter from behind her. With effort, she kept a straight face. It felt like it took a monumental effort to do so.

"Analyzing substance now. Will take time." Mordin stepped toward Garrus, "Would help if patient let me examine-"

"No, nonononono! Don't touch it! Don't even think about it." Garrus flinched away from the doctors, curling around his...pride defensively, shoulders hunched in misery, trying to shield his condition from the onlookers at the window. There were quite a few.

Shepard felt sorry for the guy, really she did. He was her friend, he didn't deserve this humiliation. "So what can we do?"

Chakwas hummed in thought, her brows cocked lasciviously. Shepard thought,  _You, too, Karen? I thought you'd at least be more professional about it._  The lady doctor said, "Assuming we don't find an antidote, it will probably wear off eventually. We can make him...comfortable in the meantime."

Shepard wasn't sure if she wanted to examine the double meanings there and shook her head to be free of it, "Can't we just knock him out until then?"

Both doctors immediately shook their heads, saying no in almost perfect unison. Mordin looked to his colleague and said, "Pathology unknown. Could be side effects, byproducts released as body absorbs and digests toxin."

Now she was frowning, feeling her guts drop, "Could he die if we let him sleep?"

"Possible. Or possibly comatose."

"I don't know how to say this, but..." Chakwas said, a bit reticent, which was not like the straight shooting medical specialist she'd grown to love as part of her crew. Shepard gestured for her to go on, "His mental state is deteriorating and if he doesn't find some...relief soon, it might not matter either way."

Shepard breathed in sharply at what the doctors clearly meant, and her mouth snapped shut on whatever she'd been about to say. She spun on her heel and approached Garrus, whose mandibles twitched and shook in his distress. There was a sort of low vocalization coming out of his throat, not quite a growl. "How you feeling, big guy?"

She tried to concentrate on his response rather than the rather large lump that was barely hidden by the thin blanket they'd given him. He ground out from between clenched jaws, "Better now that you're not talking about me like I'm not here."

"You...understand what Mordin and Chakwas were just telling me?"

"That...I'm going to go crazy unless I..." The poor man couldn't even get the words out.

She reached for his face and looked into his eyes, "Tell me you don't want this and I'll find another way, Garrus. I swear to you."

"Shep, I'm pretty far gone. I want to...I need to..." He latched onto her about the waist and clung to her.

She turned back to the physicians, "How long?"

"30-40 hours, maybe longer."

"Christ, I don't think any one woman could do that."

"Suggest a rota. Many eligible females here, and maybe some willing males as well."

Shocked, she said, "Mordin!"

The salarian shrugged, unrepentantly smug. She readied a harsher reprimand when she was stopped by Garrus, who moaned into her belly, "It doesn't matter..."

 _Really?_  That was something she'd never would have guessed about her turian sniper. "Okay, Garrus, we'll help you. God forgive me, but we'll help you good."

She used her omnitool to open a ship wide broadcast, "Now hear this. This is Shepard. By now, you will have heard about what's going on down in sick bay. I want to make clear that my next statement is an order and the people who participate must be willing. Garrus Vakarian has saved our asses more than once, he's a good guy, noble and a...fairly decent shot-"

The turian at her belly snorted, but she continued regardless, "-I have a feeling some of you will want to make light of this. Let me tell you it is very serious. All crew members who are willing to sacrifice a bit of time and energy helping our friend out, please report to sickbay to sign up on the roster. If I hear one joke, some snide comment, that soldier will be on KP for eternity. Shepard out."

She shut the OT down with a sigh and made to leave when a sharp tug on her waistband landed her in Garrus' lap with a little 'oof' of surprise, "Garrus, what-?"

His voice at her ear, "Shep, let me-"

She swallowed at his nearness, the way he was kneading her back and felt her imagination run wild. Thoughts she'd had once upon a time, dreams that woke her sweaty and aroused, "Garrus, I don't think that's a good idea-"

"Please, Shep, Jane, I want the...first one...to...to care about me." His plea was moving. She was moved, but she also knew she wasn't the only one on this tug with a soft spot for their resident turian. "Let it be you, please, Jane."

Temptation, his voice was pure temptation and the hard length of him poking her in the thigh wasn't a very good deterrent either. She'd intended to stay out of it, be the one person who didn't take advantage. She gave in, what did it cost her, really? Maybe some lost sleep, is all. She looked down into his blue eyes and smiled, "Of course."

She tugged him upright by his hand and led him to the door. He followed as though sleepwalking, naked, shivering, his rigid member bobbing from side to side as he strode in her wake. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that group of women, Tali, Liara, Gabby, fall silent. One of them licked their lips.

She walked by as though unaware of the stares, but paused by Chakwas, "I'm taking him to the loft. Get the lounge ready."

Chakwas turned to the others, "You heard her, girls. Get a move on."

Shepard heard one or two mutter, "Lucky..."

Yes, she was lucky. Any girl would be and most likely, soon  _every_ girl  _would_  be. She should probably be more concerned about that than she was, but no matter. She'd already promised an allotment of sleep to the idea.

Ten minutes later and she was feeling extremely lucky. Oh, that tongue was doing wonders. Her toes curled as the waves of yet another orgasm swept over her and she pulled him up to settle between her thighs and sighed as he entered her, not hard, but relentlessly. Such was every stroke thereafter, steady, sure, the pace picking up gradually until they both called hoarsely in their native tongues.

His face...all that fierce concentration she'd seen time and time again on the battlefield, all of it centered solely on her. It made a savage tingle run up and down her spine until she thought she'd break in the wake of it.

She rolled them and took control, rolling and snapping her hips over his cock, lifting, plunging, finding all the right spots. His rough hands ran up and down her body, turning the whole landscape of her skin into one big erogenous zone. She caught a talon in her teeth and sucked hard as she rode him to completion, eyes rolling back in her head as she felt him pulse within her, heard his voice hoarse from calling her name.

She collapsed on his chest, utterly exhausted, her hair flowing across his plates and cowl. She said weakly, "Merde."

He panted at her ear, rumbling a purr, "Shepaarrrrd."

He rolled his hips, and she hissed, afterglow shattered by the reminder that she didn't do this sort of thing often enough or as vigorously as she'd just done to keep her body from complaining. And wasn't that a damn shame.

Garrus stilled at her pained grunt and slowly withdrew himself from within her, though she heard the needy whine in his subharmonics. She lifted herself off him and gave him a smile to comfort him. She glanced down toward his cock, which was still turgid and shiny from their combined essences. She sighed, "Sorry, big guy, but I just can't handle any more. I'd keep you tied to my bed if I could."

He made a mewling sound, though he nodded in understanding. She stood and sent a message requesting an update on the situation down stairs and received an almost instant response that everything was a go. Their enthusiasm was amusing, to say the least and she turned back to her best friend, looking so deliciously rumpled in her bed and found she couldn't blame them, what with all those...noises he was making, she sighed, "I think you ruined me, you damn turian."

In the midst of his restless moans, she was pretty sure she heard a chuckle. Then, she looked at the clock. One hour, he'd worn her out in only one hour. Quick calculation in her head told her that even should all the women on the ship take two turns, there was still too much damn time. And she ran a hand through her hair, mind racing. Finally she said, in a voice just above a whisper, "I think we're gonna need to go to the Citadel..."


	2. Tali

Chapter Two

Tali watched as Shepard staggered out of her cabin into an argument. Tali stopped fighting and tried to get Mordin and Liara's attention. They were both talking very quickly, very loudly, and very much over each other's words.

"Enough! What's going on?" Shepard roared.

Tali looked to Liara;  _should I explain it, or will you?_ Liara's face was flushed a deep blue and she looked angry; Tali was just about to tell Shepard what was going on when Mordin started, handing the commander a bottle of water. Liara barely let him get two words in before she was shouting over him again, the discordant jumble of sound no more comprehensible than before. Tali sighed. Somehow, she knew just how this was going to end up.

"One at a time," Shepard begged. "Solus."

"Not quite … as ready as I had thought. Thought, plenty of time. Thought, could synthesize enough anti-allergen before humans needed. Thought –"

Shep leaned against the smooth metal wall, then slid down. Tali felt a thrill of fear, mixed with … something else.  _He really exhausted her, didn't he? Keelah …._

"I swear to God, Mordin, if you don't get to the point –"

"He says it has to be one of us," Liara broke in. "Until he has enough testing kits and medication to make sure any other humans would be safe."

Tali tapped her foot, anxious. She was dextro. The only other person on the ship who was dextro, as a matter of fact.  _Alone of anyone else, I would be perfectly safe from any reaction to –"_ Inside her helmet, Tali blushed, grateful that no one could see.  _And besides, Dr. Solus has already explained about the immune-booster he gave me …._  She looked up to see Shepard still working through all the implications.

"Wait a minute, you sent me in there without testing!" Shepard protested.

Mordin did not look in the least embarrassed by this. "Great Commander Shepard. Back from dead. Rebuilt with Cerberus technology. Did you get sniffles and rash?"

Shep's eyes narrowed. "I think it's a little more serious than that."

Mordin rolled his eyes. "Insulting. Checked for compatibility issues before Collector base, when Commander and Vakarian making googly eyes at each other for weeks."

"I most certainly did not –"

Mordin argued back at her with Liara again fighting to be heard. A muffled groan floated out of the closed door behind Shepard.

"Aright, aright, quit. We don't have time for this. Look," she told the girls, "it doesn't  _have_  to be either of you –"

Liara stormed off without waiting to hear the rest. Shep continued, talking solely to Tali.

"It doesn't have to be you. No one _has_ to do this. Mordin, does anyone else know if they've been tested for reaction to dextro?"

"Not among volunteers, no. Have identified certain individuals less likely to have issue, but still risky. If unlucky, may have a death."

Tali felt a nervous flutter in her stomach. No one was going to make her do this; Shepard has been quite clear that it was a volunteer assignment. And judging by the way Shepard was  _still_  flushed and out of breath, it didn't seem like an  _awful_  assignment, did it …?

"I'll have to go back in," Shepard decided. Her legs were shaking but Tali noticed she didn't look exactly displeased. In fact, she looked almost … smug.

"I will do it," Tali said. Shepard gaped at her.

"Are … are you sure? I mean, I'm sure I can manage …."

"No, no. You've done enough, Commander."

"It's less risky for me to take another turn."

"You don't want to tire yourself out," Tali responded.

"If both need it so badly, can go in together?" Mordin suggested.

Shepard blushed crimson and Tali was certain she herself was dark purple under the mask.

"No, that's –" Shepard coughed, then shook her head. "I probably have some duties or something to attend to. He, ah, already jumped through the shower, so. Uh. Should be good."

Mordin turned to Tali and started explaining the safety procedures one more time. She already had the immune-booster, she wouldn't stay out of her suit more than an hour, she would go immediately into quarantine and be monitored carefully … Tali wasn't listening. Inside Shepard's cabin, Garrus was waiting.

#

The door slid open silently and Tali stepped inside. For just a second, she saw Garrus laying on the bed, then he had picked her up and was carrying her to the bed. He fell with her, rumbling deep in the throat as his hands ran over her –

" _Keelah!"_

"Get this suit off," Garrus pleaded, tugging on the fabric. He couldn't seem to find the seals.

"Garrus, wait," Tali said. She bit her lip, suddenly unsure. It's not like she'd ever  _done_  this before. She'd never even really been out of her  _suit._  And Garrus had those talons …. "Garrus, I … I'm not sure. I haven't … I haven't ever …."

Distracted as he was, it took a minute before Garrus understood and his mandibles dropped. "You're a virgin?"

Tali nodded and Garrus groaned, rolling off of her.

"Can't … take advantage of innocent …" The rest of his words were lost in another piteous moan. The sound shouldn't have done anything, but with the dual tones in his voice, there was always something  _deeper_  in his words when he spoke. Animal.

 _Sexy,_  Tali decided. She took off her faceplate first, and finally looked at him.

He was already slick with his own lubrication again but Tali wondered if it would even fit. She didn't know any quarians who had bonded to a turian.

But then she'd already promised to help ….

 _I wonder what it tastes like …?_  She dipped her head to find out and Garrus gave a strangled scream as she licked just a bit of moisture from the tip to find out.

"It tastes like metal!" she exclaimed.

"Tali, leave. Go now. Don't want –" Another guttural growl was torn out of him as she sucked the tip experimentally. "Don't want to hurt you."

"Then let me take lead. Put your hands on the headboard and don't move until I say." Garrus complied, whimpering. The headboard made an ominous creaking sound as he grasped it; Tali was sure he would end up breaking it eventually. She dismissed the concern and continued to explore him with her tongue. She had known the basics for years. Magazines with advice columns had found their way onto the fleet as they found their way to any place with young women anxious to know how it all worked. She plied him with her tongue and mouth, listening to his reactions to see which advice was good and which was worthless.

Tali couldn't seem to take the whole thing into her mouth, so she undid some of the seals on her suit to remove her gloves. Garrus was panting by now and she was starting to feel quite proud of herself and more than a little excited. She wrapped one hand around the shaft and stroked while she continued to swirl her tongue around the tip. Her other hand worked at the seals, trying to get out her suit without having to stop. Eventually she got stuck; she needed two hands to get fully undressed.

Garrus whimpered again when her hands and mouth left him.

"Do not worry, I will be right back." Her suit was soaked when she pulled it away from her thighs.

"Tali, please."

Once fully naked, she looked down at herself, wondering if he would like what he saw. Dusky lavender skin, with darker violet nipples and …  _other places,_  she thought. And at her crown a heavy mass of violet hair that fell to her shoulders when she let it loose.

Garrus still had a death-grip on the headboard. He was breathing deeply and Tali was embarrass to realize he was  _smelling_ her _._  His eyes were still closed.

"Garrus, look at me," she said. He opened his blue eyes and his arms shook as he tried not to move. "Garrus, if you don't … if you don't want me, I can still go get Shepard."

"Tali, please. I want you, I just don't want to hurt you."

Tali nodded. "Can you … can you at least start slow?"

Garrus nodded frantically. His cock was twitching lightly, almost seeming to seek out its place to be. Tali returned to the bed. At least she didn't have a physical barrier in place, like the humans did. That sounded painful. She ran her fingers lightly over him again, tracing delicate swirls and loops on him like the patterns in her hood.

"Garrus … you can let go of the headboard now."

In an instant, he had her pinned under him. True to his word, he started slow. He first entered her at such a deliberate pace that even Tali was getting frustrated with it. She was starting to ache from need, as if her body could sense that Garrus's was the perfect foil for her.

 _"Keelah,_  Garrus, just fuck me!"

Once again, the turian complied.


	3. Ashley

Chapter Three

by Arcana Mortis

Ashley blinked. When she'd stepped off the shuttle, she'd expected a debriefing, maybe some questions on where she'd been…normal things.  _Reasonable_ things. She had  _not_ expected to be propositioned by their resident turian. By proxy, no less.

"You want me to…"

"Yes," Shepard said. She looked terrible. Her hair was plastered to her scalp with sweat, and she smelled like a brothel.

"With Garrus."

Shepard nodded mutely.

Ashley stared. It wasn't that she'd never considered it. You heard things, in the Alliance. Turian tongues were a favourite topic of conversation among human women, and Garrus was…well, there really weren't words to describe Garrus Vakarian properly. Other than ' _taken'_ , of course. Not officially, but if he and Shepard didn't stop making – what was Mordin's charming term,  _googly eyes_? – at each other and  _do_  something about their obviously smitten state, she would personally take their faces and smoosh them together. For the war effort, obviously.

"I thought you two were…"  _madly in lust? Still at the staring-awkwardly-and-trying-out-the-world's-worst -pickup-lines-phase?_

"We are! Or we were. The decision was kind of taken out of our 's…well, Mordin thinks it's something he ate. And I can't keep up with him anymore. Tali's in with him now."

" _Tali_?"

"Yeah, she volunteered. But she's quarian, so she doesn't have the…stamina."

Ashley ran a hand through her hair. "Where do I go?"

"My quarters, for now. Mordin's there. He'll brief you."

"Right. Right, your quarters. Is he…okay with this?"

"Ask him when you see him.  _Go_ , Ashley."

As she took the elevator up to the captain's loft, Ashley wondered what the hell she was doing. But Garrus was a friend, wasn't he? And you helped your friends where you could.

The little salarian was waiting just outside the elevator. He had a crate covered in injectors, but he didn't draw the attention the same way as the sounds from inside Shepard's quarters did. Tali certainly sounded like she was having fun.

"Ahh, Lieutenant-Commander. Good, good," Mordin said, and jabbed Ashley in the arm with a testing kit.

"Ow!"

"Have to test allergic response. Response mild," he continued, muttering to himself now. "Small dose of anti-allergen should do trick…there. This may sting," he said, and stuck an injector into her arm again. Ashley didn't respond.

"What's wrong with Garrus?"

"Aphrodisiac. Abnormally concentrated. Lack of sexual contact causes heart palpitations, pain. Must keep occupied until antidote can be found."

"And if you can't find one?"

"Turian hearts more robust than human, but not made for this level of activity over extended time. If no antidote, outcome…"Mordin took a deep breath, "problematic."

"You mean he'll die," Ashley said, as Tali's voice rose to a shriek inside.

"Possibility exists. Ah! Tali!"

The door slid open and Tali staggered out, carrying her environment suit in her arms. "I'm sorry, Mordin, I can't go any longer. I don't think my hips are ever going to be the same again!"

"Not to worry, Tali'Zorah," the salarian said kindly as he began running field-sterilizers over Tali's skin. "Lieutenant-Commander Williams, here to help."

"Thanks, Ash," Tali said quietly. "You should probably go in now."

Ashley took a deep breath and stepped into the room. It smelled of sweat and sex, but over all that there was something…spicy. Something that set her heart racing.

And then there was a body pinning her to the door.

"Ash," Garrus rumbled, his body flush against hers. She couldn't help but feel his hardness, hard body, hard cock, hard…everything. "You can still leave. If you don't want to do this…I can…you don't…"

_To hell with it. How many chances like this does a girl get?_

Ashley raised her arms and put them around his neck, stroking gently under his crest, where rumour had it turians were…very sensitive.

"You're a teammate, Garrus," she told him, looking up into his eyes. They were wild and frantic, and she could  _see_ how much this delay was costing him. "We've bled together. We can do this."

It was like she'd unleashed a whirlwind, because Garrus' mouth descended on hers and suddenly his tongue was in her mouth. She'd never kissed a turian before, but he obviously had experience of humans. He knew exactly how to tease, how to stroke his tongue along hers to drive her wild. And that  _smell_ , she could tell now that it was coming off him and it got right in her hindbrain and started flipping switches.

Garrus left her mouth to nibble at her ear, and his hands were at her waist, urging her even closer against him.

"You're  _sure_?" he asked again.

"Garrus, I've never been this sure of anything in my  _life_ ," she panted, and hooked one leg over his waist so that she could rub against him more directly. The excuse for a skirt that came with her uniform rode up all the way to her waist, and Garrus put his hand on her thigh, pulling her tighter against him yet again.

He was hard as a rock, and the only thing between them was the thin satin of her panties, but he made no move to take them off, just rocked against her, hard and rhythmic until they were both gasping for breath, and Ashley moaned and buried her face in his neck.

"Garrus, I need you to…."

"Not yet," he said. "Make it last."

And he sent her over the edge with a last hard thrust. She clung to him through her orgasm and heard his deep, throaty growl as he came.

She was still trying to catch her breath when he hooked a talon in her underwear and ripped it off before picking her up. He set her down on the edge of the bed and, not looking up, spread her legs and knelt between them.

"Garrus," she said, touching his shoulder. "This isn't about me. You don't have to do this."

He looked up at her and he may or may not have been smiling, but his eyes sparkled. "Who said I was doing it for you?" he asked, and shoved her lightly backwards until she lay flat on the bed.

He didn't do anything at first. Just looked, and Ashley fought the urge to tell him to get  _on_  with it already. This had to be hard for him, and she was not going to make it harder. Then he slid a finger inside her, so slowly and gently. Ashley closed her eyes and fisted her hands in the sheets, because she was ready again  _already_  and now he was just teasing her.

"Human females are fascinating," he said. "So soft. So…responsive."

Ashley wanted to protest as he took his hand away, but then he leaned forward and licked her, and she whimpered. His tongue was rougher than she was used to, and longer and more agile, and it seemed to be  _everywhere_. She lifted one hand to his head and caressed him, keeping him in place because if he stopped she would be forced to kill him, and she didn't want him to die before she…ah.

_Oh, he's good at this,_  she thought, and that was her last coherent thought because with a moan that she could feel in her  _goddamn bones_ , Garrus slid that long, clever tongue of his right up inside her, fucking her in slow delicious strokes, and she shoved one hand in her mouth to keep from screaming. But Garrus reached out and put the hand flat on the bed, then gripped her hips and lifted her up and he was humming as he fucked her, and it was sending these  _vibrations_  through her, and then his tongue curled inside her and she screamed after all, her body bent like a bow as she came.

When she could open her eyes again Garrus was leaning over her, his face predatory and amused, and she smiled and tipped him backwards on the bed.

"Two can play at that game," she said, and wrapped a hand around his hard, leaking cock.

He closed his eyes and groaned, and Ashley was smiling as she bent to lick the length of it.

"Don't tease, Williams," Garrus said. "Don't…"

She laughed, and enjoyed the way his flesh twitched at the puffs of her breath.

"Don't worry, Garrus. Just let me take care of this. Relax."

He moaned long and low when she finally took him in fully, and his hand was in her hair. She almost expected him to take control now, to grab onto her hair and push her down, but he didn't. Just stroked the back of her head so gently, and she smiled around him.

Then she hummed and took him deep as she could, and he growled and his fingers tightened on her head.

"Please, Ash, I can't, I'm about to…"

She pulled off long enough to say 'go ahead' and went down again, swirling her tongue around the sensitive head on every upstroke.

He screamed when he came, his body going absolutely rigid as he thrust helplessly up into her mouth, and she took it all and didn't stop until he whimpered and nudged her head away from him.

"You shouldn't have done that," he panted. "Allergies…"

"Totally worth it to hear you scream like that," she sighed and crawled up the bed to lie, still almost fully dressed, beside him. "And besides, Mordin gave me a shot he swore would work. So I'm fine."

"You're overdressed," Garrus said, tugging at her clothes.

"You didn't give me a chance to take anything off," she laughed, and squirmed out of her clothing. Garrus's eyes widened when she took off her bra, and he lifted his hands to her breasts.

"Wow," he said. "I didn't know they came in so many sizes."

She glanced down. "Well, yeah. I'm a bit bigger than most women, and Shepard is a bit smaller, so…" she smiled.

"And it doesn't make any difference in their function?"

"Not really. Although there are certain benefits to larger breasts."

"Such as?"

She laughed. "They look pretty," she said, and straddled his waist. He was ready again already, and his hands went to her hips. "Especially in this position."

He wasn't that different from a human male, she thought as she slid down on him, her walls already slick and stimulated from her previous orgasms and expanding to fit him with ease. Quite large, though.

She gasped as he finally filled her completely, the wide base of his cock stretching her.

"Oh, they  _do_  look nice from this angle," Garrus said, and took her nipples into his hands.

"And you certainly know what to do with them," she said, and started moving. She was sensitive already, and he had the most amazing texture, so it wasn't long before she was gasping again, and his hands were at her hips slamming her down on him hard. He came before she was ready, closing his eyes and groaning, but continued without a pause as he rolled them over, rearing above her as he fucked her hard, but slow.

The mother of all orgasms was building inside her, and she tried to make him go faster and she moaned in frustration as he came  _yet again_  and she was still unsatisfied.

He pulled out and in one swift motion, rolled her over and yanked her to her knees. Before she could so much as breathe he was in her again, and this time he wasn't taking it slow. The angle brought new and interesting parts of him into contact with her, and she found herself shuddering under him, tensing in preparation for the orgasm of the century as she gasped and begged and pleaded.

Then his hand found its way to her clit and a single light touch sent her over the edge and she screamed again, the waves of sensation coming over her again and again, and Garrus didn't pause for so much as a second, just kept going and going, pushing her ever higher as she came again and again and again, until she was so overstimulated she twitched away from his touch.

He pulled out immediately, and she turned around and sucked him down in one greedy gulp, and this time he did push her onto him, and she didn't even  _care,_  just held on and tried to breathe as he fucked her mouth until he finally came.

She sat back and wiped her mouth, smiling at his slack-jawed face. "Well, that was fun. Can you give me a few minutes to breathe? I should be good to go again then."

Garrus stared at her.

"Human women are fucking awesome," was all he said.


	4. Thane

Chapter Four

By bluekrishna

_VI Medical Log #387:_

Solus: "Start recording."

_Audible click, sound of steps receding, low vocalization-extranet searchfound-humming. Song title: 1812 Overture, Tchaikovsky, Earth._

Solus:  _"_ Patient rejected latest treatment...violent vomiting, no sign of internal hemorrhaging. Good first attempt. Some base enzymic reaction positive, but overall ineffective. Must have made the mix too potent. Will try diffusion of base compounds into solution next. Different delivery system. Oral instead of intravenous. Possibly suppository, though given circumstances, not likely suppository will stay in place long enough to be...* _heavy sigh*..._ effective."

_-saving progress...complete. Monitoring..._

Solus:  _"_ Arrival at Citadel fortuitous. Can confer with colleagues at Huerta. See if there are any other recorded incidents of contact with unknown chemical aphrodisiac compound 26b. Patient moved to more secure location with larger...accommodation. Sedation was required. Patient seemed to be exhibiting nesting instinct, didn't want to vacate 'safe' den. Will be interesting to see how patient adapts. Tempted to set recording device to monitor situation-"

Chakwas: "No, I can't authorize that. That's going too far."

Solus: "But think of benefits, can learn all manner of things. Xeno-relations interesting, could test air to see how pheromones intermingling, skin and nervous system reactions, pupil dilation, limits of stamina-"

Chakwas: "You know what Shepard would do to me, to us, if she found out we bugged her apartment?"

Solus _: *sigh_ "...Fine. Missing out on prime opportunity for study. But  _would_ rather keep internal organs on the inside. Would put damper on future plans and experiments to suddenly find myself...dead."

_-saving progress...complete. End recording._

Chapter 4: Thane Krios

It was getting worse. They'd darkened the room for his comfort, as though he could  _be_  anything like comfortable. He moaned as the air vent above the bed tickled his over-sensitive skin in light, feathery zephyrs. It felt as though his body was one big nerve ending, being relentlessly plucked by everything it came in contact with.

His blood roared through his veins, hot and heavy, like magma. His plates felt as though some insect army was burrowing its way through. Maddening, the sensation was too much. And above it all, the overwhelming need pounded at him, even this short respite waiting for another was taxing his sanity to the breaking point. He needed the solace of their flesh. The smell of sex and sweat filled the air of the small guest room.

He'd already lost count of how many there had been. So many and already he was on the brink of begging they send another. Screaming it.

A different sort of scent wafted to his nose and he thought maybe his silent prayers had been answered and they'd finally sent him someone else. He frowned as he identified each separate scent. Leather, gun oil and...sand, and familiar.  _Krios..._

"Have you come to laugh at me?" Garrus said, pushing the words out past a tongue that didn't want to do anything but writhe and curl against someone's hot skin. He wished he could suppress the way his hips kept rolling against the bed's sheets, trying to find relief for his aching cock. Embarrassment flooded through him; to be so compromised before the cool and deadly assassin.

"Shepard has made it abundantly clear that there is to be no laughing," came the soft reply, in that sandy voice. He twitched at the effect it had on him. His mouth dried as he tried to catch a glimpse of the assassin in the dark, to no avail. Thane Krios was only seen when he wanted to be seen.

Maybe he could talk the drell into ending his misery to save him from the ridicule that was sure to follow this whole...situation.

He jumped as fingers tipped with short talons ran along his spine, lighting a fire in their wake. Garrus moaned long and loud, then tried to bury his head in the pillow to hide from his shame. He fought to hear Krios over the pounding in his ears, "Tell me exactly what you are feeling."

Garrus swallowed to try to moisten the arid cavern of his mouth and stuttered, "H-hot, fevered and…and..."

"Aroused?" He heard a smile in that soft voice and he nodded. The assassin continued, "That much is very obvious. But...is the whole of it centered here-?"

A light touch between his legs on the base of his manhood had him spasming and thrusting back for more contact, but that hand had disappeared. Garrus was left gasping, shocked that Thane,  _Thane_ of all people had fondled him so brazenly.

Sure, they'd been close comrades on the Normandy. And sure, they'd had loads in common, revenge, martial arts, the satisfaction of seeing heads explode in the world of the scope, but it had never been more than that, had it?

Garrus felt chagrin then and knew that at least on his end, there had been no few thoughts that were less than innocent. That the slick drell had been the star of more than a few wet dreams. This is what came of working with aliens, one inevitably became...curious.

This train of thought was derailed by the drell's battle-roughened hands sliding up the back of his thighs and he quivered from head to toe, on the verge of swallowing his own flip-flopping tongue. The feeling was at least as intense as that fleeting touch on his member and he groaned, writhing on the bed. Thane whispered, "-or everywhere?"

"Aaah!" He couldn't even put a sentence together any more as those hands wandered up his back, over the plates that shouldn't be near as sensitive as they'd become. Garrus almost cried out again as Thane moved away and he growled, "Don't…tease me, Thane."

That earned him a dark chuckle that sent his skin tingling, "Shepard seems to think you need to be coddled in this, your...illness. Tell me, Garrus, do you want me to coddle you?"

So he  _was_  here to...help; that was a relief. But the words set off alarms in his head. And then he realized that sex with Thane wasn't going to be a soft affair of touches and sighs. It might well be rougher than anything he'd ever experienced before.

Lust blossomed in him, even over the artificially induced need of his body and he knew that he wanted it, wanted those strong, lethal hands to keep touching him, to see what Thane was like in the throes of passion. Garrus lifted his head and panted, "Fuck me, fill me. I need you."

And suddenly, the drell was there, sliding his naked flesh against Garrus' hard and plated skin and Garrus grunted as Thane raked his nails down the turian's sides. He tasted blood in his mouth and knew he'd sunk his teeth into the drell's surprising soft shoulder, pushed past the point of caring whether either of them got hurt.

They wrestled for dominance, hard muscles cording under sweat slicked skin. Garrus caught an elbow across the face more than once and struggled to trap the drell under him. But in his weakened state, his attempts were fended off with laughable ease. He soon found himself pinned, both hands caught above his head in just one of Thane's.

He stared deep into Thane's eyes, which burned in his otherwise impassive face. That heated regard alone made him shake, like Thane wanted to devour him with just his eyes. He froze, waiting with bated breath to see what the deadly little man had planned next. His eyes rolled back in his head as the drell bucked his hips, making their cocks slide against each other in one slow, delicious glide.

Garrus knew that his must be weeping by now, coating itself in a slick sheen. He trembled as Thane's other hand found its way down there, wrapping around both their shafts, pumping up and down with a steady slow rhythm. He moaned and twisted, but the drell held him down without effort, his face a fierce little frown of concentration.

Garrus found he didn't mind so much, but he really wanted to taste that luminescent green skin, with its tantalizing markings. He lifted his head as far as he could and slowly swiped his long tongue along Thane's collarbone, marveling at the pebbled texture. Garrus was rewarded with a bone deep shudder that ran through the smaller man's body.

Thane froze over him.

The assassin's eyes flicked to his face and Garrus felt a slight shiver of fear, then those soft lips parted in a moan as Thane leaned down and kissed him, their tongues winding about each other. The drell's tongue was smooth, so smooth. They broke away to find much needed oxygen, but Thane dove right back in, licking, nipping, sucking at his mouthplates until Garrus was almost cross-eyed from the pleasure of it.

Thane sighed against his ear, his voice strained, as though he was just barely holding back, "Have you ever been with a man?"

Garrus felt heat rise to his face, "A...couple of times..."

The drell chuckled, "I didn't think to prepare. Shepard's message wasn't exactly...clear."

"I don't care. Just do it." He hissed as Thane ran one finger around the taut ring of muscle between his legs. "Hurt me."

"I will do what I can to ease the way." Garrus watched Thane coat his own fingers in saliva, then winced as a finger slid into him. The discomfort passed and Thane pressed his fused middle digits into the slightly looser channel, working them back and forth. Pain and pleasure radiated out from that spot to everywhere, casting light into every dark corner.

Thane straddled one of his thighs and lifted Garrus' other leg onto his shoulder and yanked the turian down further on the bed by his hips. Garrus couldn't deny the thrill that coursed through him at being so easily manhandled. He spread himself wantonly for the drell, who smiled, no  _leered_ as he took in the hopelessly undone turian in front of him.

Then Garrus felt something press against his opening, stretching, almost tearing. Garrus called out hoarsely as his hole was invaded, holding onto the headboard. He pressed down onto Thane's cock, his body ravenous for more of that delicious burn.

Once Thane was fully sheathed in him, both men froze, each breathing hard in the dim light. Impatience got the better of him, and Garrus rolled his hips. As the drell breathlessly gasped, Garrus hissed , "Move, Krios."

"As you wish," came the maddeningly calm reply and move he did, pulling completely back out before slamming back in. Garrus' jaw went slack at the host of sensations assailing him. Hot and cold chills ran up and down his body as Thane pounded away with barely restrained fury.

And there was a place, deep inside, that kept getting bumped by the drell's mushroom-headed member that shot bolts of lightning all the way out to his fingertips, building in magnitude until his moans and grunts became a full throated wail. He screamed whorishly, impaled on that thick prick that filled him to the brim. Its ridged and seamed sides flicked the tight ring of his anus in a way that made him wonder if he'd ever be the same again.

A hand closed on his cock, pumping and pulling. Garrus screamed again at the tactile overload. His vision whited out as an orgasm that could not be denied churned its way out of his length. Thick and ropy streams coated his belly and the hand that held him in an almost too tight grip.

He blinked away the stars just in time to see Thane's face still in an expression of pure bliss and beatific joy, his soft lips slightly open. The drell's cock pulsed and spilled forth its essences deep inside Garrus. It was then that he realized that Thane was beautiful. They were all so very beautiful. How lucky he was to see them undone, in all their naked glory. Literally and metaphorically.

Beastly lust calmed for the moment, he reached for the drell, who came into his arms without so much as a peep of protest. The assassin settled in the hollow at Garrus' belly with a pleased rumble, unmindful of the mess between them. Garrus breathed in the scent of the other man, masculine and earthy, flicking his mandibles along the back of that muscled neck. He said in a very small voice, "Thank you."

Thane laughed, breathy from their endeavors, "It is I who should be thanking you. That was...sublime."

Now Garrus laughed, "Says the guy who turned me into a big, shaking post-orgasmic wreck."

The drell turned in his arms until they were face to face, and touched him gently on the cheek, "If you ever decided to open shop on the Citadel, I believe Sha'ira would soon find herself lacking clients."

"Ha, nice, I'll take that as a compliment even if it does makes me sound like a whore. But no thanks, I'm pretty sure she has more than one company of asari commandos under her pretty little thumb." He closed his eyes and enjoyed the trail of warmth that chased Thane's fingers. "Besides, this is limited time offer."

"Oh?" Krios said, running his thumb over Garrus' mouthplates. The turian was starting to feel the burn again, the helpless wanting. But neither did he want to ruin this peaceful moment. He listened with half an ear as Thane said, "Then perhaps I should put myself at the end of the line again."

"..Thane, I don't want you to feel like you have to make this any less weird-" His words were stilled by a green hand that came up to cover his mouth and his eyes opened to see Thane smiling crookedly at him.

"What makes you think I didn't want this? That perhaps the opportunity was too good to pass up?" Thane's eyes became half lidded and his tongue came out to wet soft lips, "Surely you know that much speculation on your...habits has made the rounds among the people closest to you? That you are much the object of desire among them?"

"Uh...I guess not?" The assassin laughed at Garrus' naiveté. The turian found himself smiling to hear it.

Thane rolled off the bed and Garrus was already missing the closeness of another body next to his. The assassin dressed efficiently and then turned back to Garrus, "I shall let the others have their turn and try not to seem as eager as I am should my name come up again before this is all over. But, Garrus...?"

An uncertain tone? From Thane? "Yes, Thane?"

"When this poison has run its course and the feverish desire has abated, do you think...if I should visit, that my presence would be...disagreeable?"

He was flattered. Thane wanted to see him outside this bizarre circumstance? His browplates lifted and he answered, "I'm not sure what will happen after this. I might just die of embarrassment. But...no, it wouldn't be disagreeable at all."

The drell, a pleased smile on his face, bowed and exited, swift and silent. Garrus sighed, and bent his will to suppressing the unnatural heat in his blood, but he knew that all too soon, he would be needing sex again, and lots of it.

He took a quick wash and waited, feeling the strain of overtaxed muscles and a certain discomfort below. He held onto them as reminders of his surprisingly pleasant time with the mysterious and fascinating Thane Krios.


	5. Dr. Michel

Chapter Five

By Palaven Blues

"Poor thing, I served with him. Twice. I think he'll be more than a little embarrassed by this when it's over." Dr. Chakwas was talking to a nurse as she gathered an armful of supplies.

Dr. Chloe Michel froze; if Chakwas was here, then the  _Normandy_  must be in dock. She set the patient chart she was holding on a convenient counter top so she could pretend to make notes while listening in.

"Be embarrassed myself. Not a situation I'd relish," the nurse was saying. "But – turian sex drive similar to human, yes? Is it really big problem?"

_Turian sex drive?_  Chloe wondered. There was only one turian on the  _Normandy –_  were they talking about … about ….

"Well, generally," Chakwas agreed. "But even for non-salarians, it's a bit awkward to be so consumed by it that you hardly differentiate who's, ah … providing the service, as it were."

Chloe's face heated up and she walked away, leaving her chart behind. Garrus Vakarian was here, on the Citadel. Having some kind of problem where he was consumed by his sex drive …. It was like some kind of dream. She was halfway down the block before she realized she had no idea where Garrus was. If what Chakwas had been saying was true, he was likely in no condition to answer a message. She would have to think of something else. She turned back toward the hospital, just as Chakwas exited and strode briskly the opposite direction.

_This doesn't seem like the best idea,_  Chloe told herself, but her feet voted against her, trotting quickly to catch up. Along with her traitorous feet, several other parts registered their votes that they get to Garrus and help with his medical condition as quickly as possible.

#

Dr. Chakwas, still oblivious, led the younger doctor to an apartment building on the Silversun Strip. Chloe threaded through the thick crowds, trailing Chakwas all the way, but lost her at the elevator.

" _Merde,"_  she cursed quietly. One small fist rested gently on the closed elevator doors. So close. She had been so close. Somewhere above her, she heard the elevator chime as it reached the correct floor. She looked up … and saw that the current floor number was lit up. She knew what floor they were on. She waited anxiously for the next elevator, chewing on her lower lip. Once she was on the right floor, she only had to find out which apartment he was in. Then ….

Chloe stepped off the elevator and smiled. There were only two apartments on this floor. She stepped up to the door closest the elevator first. It wasn't this one. She wasn't sure how she knew; she just did. If he was here, she was certain she would be able to feel him, needing her, somewhere on the other side of the door. She pressed the buzzer, anyway, but there was no answer.

Finally she turned to the other door. Garrus's apartment, she was sure. Somewhere behind that door, he was waiting for her, even if he didn't know it yet.

" _Chloe, I need you,"_  she could hear him say. Wait, did he even know her first name? Hadn't he always called her Dr. Michel …?

_Never mind that now._  She reached her hand to buzz for admittance to Garrus's apartment. Immediately, a young krogan appeared on the vidscreen.

"What do you want?"

"I'm from the hospital," Chloe lied smoothly. "Dr. Chakwas forgot a few things and I'm here to deliver them."

"Sure, come on in," he grunted … and just like that, the door was open.

Chloe stepped through, feeling as though she was floating. Her feet couldn't possibly be touching the floor, still.

"Doctor's in the kitchen," the krogan said.

"And the patient?" She was no longer anxious. He was going to tell her, and then she would go to her Garrus.

"Downstairs bedroom, that way."

Chloe's feet took her to the downstairs bedroom. She moved dreamily as though she were walking on clouds. Though there was noise in the kitchen, no one seemed to notice her. A drell, looking exhausted but still composed, left the bedroom, allowing the door to stay slightly ajar behind him. He didn't make eye contact. Chloe reached up to push the door a little further open … and then she was there.

For a moment, all she could focus on was the bed, sheets rumpled and smelling of him. Then she realized the shower was running.

_I should join him._  She wriggled out of her clothing, wishing she had worn some of her fancy underwears today. Then he could see her in them  _before_  she got into the shower. She shook her head. It didn't really matter; Garrus was going to love her no matter what she was wearing. She kicked her panties under the bed once she was fully naked. He could find them later, as a reminder.

Chloe padded to the bathroom on soft feet and nearly gasped at the beauty of him. Steam rose around him from the heat of the shower, and water pelted down on him. Despite the heat, he was shuddering slightly, and one hand firmly held … held his ….

Chloe's face flushed again as she realized he was ready for her. "It's alright, love, I'm here now."

Garrus turned so fast he nearly fell, steadying himself on the wall as she stepped into the shower with him. "Dr. Michel? What are you – I mean, I didn't think anybody had told you –"

_He's so happy he's speechless._  "It's alright, love, I'm here," she said again.

"Uh … water's definitely too hot for humans," Garrus mumbled, turning off the faucet and climbing out of the shower. He wrapped a towel around his waist, but it did nothing to hide his excitement about her being here. He took a few steps back; obviously, he didn't want to pressure her, but she understood. She kept walking closer so he would know she wanted this, too.

"I heard you have a distressing medical condition. But don't worry, I can help you." She smiled at him, wanting him to take her right there on the floor. They had made their way out of the bathroom by now, so the floor was carpeted. It was rough on her bare feet and she wondered how it would feel on her ass and back, Garrus moving over her ….

"You can …  _Oh!_  You can help me. You've seen this condition before, then, you know how to fix it?"

Garrus, by this point, had backed all the way to the door. One hand plucked nervously at the edge of the towel. Chloe took one more step forward, pressing herself against him, soft curves caressing his brutal lines.

"I can help you," she purred.

"Wait, I think there may be a misunder –"

Chloe put on finger against his mouthplates. "But you have to take every … last … bit of your medicine."

Mandibles flailed a few times before Garrus could think of anything to say. "Dr. Michel, you know I respect your medical expertise, but I don't think –"

Chloe just smiled. It hardly mattered what he  _said_  when he was thrusting lightly against her through the towel. She was already dropping to her knees, yanking his towel away from him. His rambling ended the instant she wrapped her lips around the tips of his cock. Instead he growled deep in his throat, the growl she had been fantasizing about for _years._  She sucked his cock eagerly, bobbing up and down as she reveled in that voice. She had watched so many videos, tried to fill his place with so many different turians, waiting for this day to come. None of them had been able to reach the rich tones of his voice. She swirled her tongue, listening to the strangled groan he gave in response. She pulled back briefly.

"Are you going to take  _all_  of your medicine, Garrus?"

Garrus's mouth worked, trying to force words out of his now-addled brain. "Just … one-time thing …" he managed.

"Whatever you like,  _mon cher_ ," she said, getting immediately back to work with her tongue. She slid her mouth down to the base of his cock, taking the whole length of it into her mouth. She was sure she could convince him to show his true love for her. And if not, this was still more than she had ever expected. She let her left hand play idly with the gap in his plates where the base of his cock disappeared and he moaned, sending shivers down her spine. Her right hand drifted to her own entrance, finding herself already wet to ease his path. His hand found its way to her hair and tangled itself there, holding her head and encouraging her.

Chloe moaned and she touched herself, feeling powerful when the noise caused him to buck his hips, thrusting into her mouth. He was making helpless whimpering noises now; she'd never imagined he would be so moved by her, by the beauty of them together.

Chloe paused again. "Garrus, please," she said, in between deep breaths. "Take me?"

Garrus wasted no time, turning her around so fast that she barely had time to catch herself on her hands. Her knees burned a little as they dragged on the carpet. Garrus still had the presence of mind to try to be gentle; he pushed one finger into her slowly, then a second, stretching her gently.

"Please," Chloe cried. Abruptly Garrus's fingers were gone and he slammed his full length into her.

"Yesyesplease,  _Gaaar-ruuus,"_ Chloe screamed.  _Fuck he feels soo good._ His thick cock stretched her, the ridges doing little more than teasing until he decided to pick up the pace. Then, the sensation was overwhelming, filling her everywhere with a warm tingle foreshadowing what was still to come. Her arms gave out and her head dropped, resting on her hands as Garrus drove into her mercilessly, over and over again.

"Garrus, please … spank me?" she begged. She shrieked as his hand came down onto her ass. It hit with an immediate sting and a thud that settled in after, and all she could think was that she'd be content for him to do this forever. He must have known, as kept his punishing rhythm, spanking her every few thrusts. Chloe could feel it coming, she was almost there, she just needed –"

" _Please,_  Garrus, I need to come now please Garrus please –" Her words ended in a wail as his hand worked its way around to her clit. She rode his hand, trapped between it and his cock, pleading incoherently for him to finish it, make her come, please Garrus please –

Chloe had no idea how long he kept her on the edge like that, needing to come but not quite over the edge. His rhythm was getting ragged, by now, harsh gasps audible even through her moaning. If he came before she could, she would  _die_  at this point.

"So close,  _mon cher_ , please please, Garrus …."

Just before he finished himself, Chloe felt one finger probing gently at her ass, and finally she came, the world was obliterated, somewhere far away she could hear him roaring out his own release.

_Came at the same time, see Garrus, meant to be, Garrus, my love –_  She collapsed weakly, barely noticing that Garrus carefully laid her down, making sure she wouldn't hurt herself.

#

Chloe awoke some time later, unsure of where she was. She lifted her head weakly to look around; she was in a normal bed, a stranger on the other side, and cots and sleeping bags covering every bit of floor.

"Where?"

"It's alright, Dr. Michel," Chakwas said, laying a cool cloth on her forehead. "You're in the recovery room, and both Garrus and the  _Normandy_  thank you for you sacrifice."

 


	6. Aria T'Loak

Chapter Six

By Arcana Mortis

There was a moment of silence when Aria walked into Shepard's apartment, and she paused and smirked at them.

"Aria?" Shepard asked, sounding choked. She was sitting on the piano stool, looking exhausted. Poor baby.

"Shepard. I heard about your little…problem. I came to offer my assistance, if you want it."

"Not to be rude or anything," the little quarian said, tilting her head, "but  _why_?"

Aria lifted one shoulder in a shrug she knew looked elegant and dismissive and sexy as hell, and smiled. She liked her smiles; she could say so many different things with them.

"Call it a soft spot for a certain vigilante I once knew," she said. "If you like."

Shepard cleared her throat.

"I didn't know you had any soft spots, Aria."

Aria leaned down until Shepard's face was level with her own and cupped the human's cheek.

"I don't. Now, where  _is_  our suffering little friend?"

Nobody answered. Nobody needed to, because Shepard's doctor and a human male roughly the size and shape of a wall came downstairs, a limp and unconscious redhead in the male's arms.

"Poor thing," the doctor – Chakwas – said. "Sneaked in while nobody was looking. She's all worn out."

The quarian giggled and the dark-haired human woman lounging on one of the couches smirked and muttered something about stamina. Aria met her eyes and smiled slowly. The human saluted her with a glass of something alcoholic before tossing the whole thing back like a professional. Aria  _liked_  that one. She made a mental note to look her up later and strode to the stairs.

"I'll show myself up, shall I?"

Mordin Solus met her at the top of the stairs. He looked completely unsurprised to see her.

"Ah. Aria. Have been expecting you. Aware of situation?"

"Well, well. Mordin Solus. What a pleasant surprise," she murmured. "I hear you have a publisher for your book."

_Now_ the salarian looked uncomfortable.

"Ah, yes. Indeed, after war is done, perhaps settle down. Perhaps write more…fiction."

Aria chuckled and stroked the stump where he'd once had a horn. Mordin had always been a favourite of hers. His STG files were absolutely  _fascinating_.

"I'll expect a signed copy, Mordin. And a cut of the royalties. After all, you wouldn't have  _had_  a story if I hadn't let you break Omega's one rule."

Mordin smirked up at her.

"In more ways than one," he said quietly. Then, abruptly, he became serious again. "Officer Vakarian through there," he said, pointing. "Cannot stay long without stimulation. Go."

Aria strolled past him, putting an extra bit of sway in her hips because she knew he was looking, and into the half-dark room.

The turian was on the bed, rutting helplessly into his own fist, and she smiled as she seated herself on the couch.

"Well, well, well," she murmured. "I had no idea you were so…well endowed,"

His eyes flew open and his hand away from his cock, and he stared at her.

"Aria?" he asked, his voice unstrung by lust and shock, his subvocals all over the place.

She smiled and leaned back, crossing her legs and enjoying the way his eyes followed her every movement. The smell in the room was heady, a mix of sex and something spicy that had her aching already. She nearly moaned when she crossed her legs.

"Archangel. We meet again. Please, don't stop on my account. You were just getting to the good part."

"Are you here to…help me?" he asked hesitantly, and the way his cock jumped when she smiled proved – as if she needed proof – that he liked the idea more than he'd ever have admitted.

"That depends. Are you going to be good, Archangel?"

She flicked her eyes to his unattended cock and he gasped, wrapping his hand around it again, stroking slowly up and down.

"Mmm, yes, you're quite the picture, aren't you," she said, and he  _was_ , laid out on the rumpled bedding like an offering or a feast, and she wanted to climb on top of him and fuck him raw, but she waited and watched while he touched himself, his eyes fixed on her and waiting for her approval. "Faster," she said, and his hand sped up, pumping rapidly up and down as his hips began to move as well, fucking into his hands under her eyes.

"Look at me," she said when he closed his eyes, and he opened them again, ice-blue eyes fixed on her with a heady mix of desire and dislike. "Now, come for me," she said, and he did, keening softly as his toes curled and his entire body curled in on itself. His hand kept moving even after his body slowly began to relax, and his breathing took a long time to smooth out. His cock stayed hard in his hand, the strokes becoming languorous.

Aria laughed, delighted.

"Oh, that was beautiful. Now, come here," she said, and a moment later he was kneeling just where she'd pointed, his face turned up to her. She presented him with her foot and was pleased when he didn't ask any questions, just unzipped her boot and pulled it off reverently. He did the same with the other one, but didn't ask permission before he reached for the fastenings of her trousers. She threw a lift field at him immediately, suspending him in the air above her.

"Ah, turians," she said, smiling at his outraged face as he floated above her. "No sense of patience. From now on you will ask permission before you touch me. Is that understood?"

He nodded, his entire body straining for her again, and she let him down. He kneeled in front of her again and she put a bare foot down on either side of his body, leaning back against the couch.

"You may remove them," she said, and he hooked his talons in the waistband and tore her trousers off in a single motion. She raised an eyebrow. "Not quite what I had in mind, pet."

"S-sorry," he said, hovering his hands shyly above her thighs. "I'll replace them."

She ignored the last part of what he said, gently pressing his hands down on her legs as she slid slightly lower, parting her thighs to give him better access.

"Now let's put that mouth of yours to use," she murmured, and took him by the back of his neck and drew his face into her lap. He was startled at first, but it took only a moment before his tongue went to work, slipping gently into her folds, exploring and tasting. She made a soft sigh of pleasure and stroked under his fringe.

It had a bit more of an effect than she was expecting – he must have been oversensitive – because with a growl she could feel in her bones he started licking her roughly, alternating his hard strokes with long slow plunges of his tongue into her. Her entire body seemed to be melting into a little puddle of lust, and before she knew it she was keening softly as she convulsed around his long agile tongue. He kept her there for longer than she would have thought, his clever tongue twisting  _just right_ inside her.

She shoved him away the moment she'd gotten her mind back, sending him sprawling.

"On the bed," she said, and he scrambled to obey. The moment he was settled she sent out her biotics, shaping it into hands that touched and teased him.

"How – " he gasped. "How are you  _doing_  that?"

She leaned back against the couch and slipped one leg over the other, watching the nebulous hands tease him, and smirked.

"I've been doing this for a thousand years. You don't think I learned some useful tricks?"

"Spirits," he hissed, closing his eyes as one of the phantom hands began stroking his fringe. His whole body shuddered when it touched the sensitive knot of nerves just behind and under it, and his hand went to his cock, already hard, lubricated and leaking again.

The invisible hand slapped his, and she pinned his wrists to the mattress.

"Ah-ah-ah," she warned playfully. "This is my time to play."

And play she did, sending her hands wandering all over that glorious body, teasing every inch of him until he was whining almost continuously with need.

He made a sound that was closer to a whimper than she'd ever heard from a turian throat when she sent one of the hands roaming below his sex, but he spread his legs as wide as they could go, giving Aria full access to the puckered hole below.

His keen when first one, then two fingers pushed inside him was a thing of beauty, bringing another rush of heat to her sex.

"Want more?" she asked almost gently, coming closer to stand over him. His eyes met hers, filled with pleading, and she smiled.

"Please," he whispered, his voice ragged. "I need-"

"I know what you need, Archangel," she murmured, and with a twist of her mind the biotic hand at his ass turned into a cock and he  _screamed_  as it began to move, helplessly thrusting up into the invisible hands wrapped around his cock and down into the phantom invader.

"More," he whimpered. "Pleaase, Aria, I need- I want- can you-… Aria,  _please_!"

Aria smoothed a hand over his fringe and knelt on the bed beside him, hovering her mouth over his cock. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and found him staring at her, his expression caught somewhere between awe and lust, as though she was the Goddess herself, come to bless him. She smirked and swiped her tongue along the length of him, and heard the soft  _krrrr_  sound as the sheets ripped under his hands.

"I didn't tell you to close your eyes, pet," she said sternly, drawing her finger along the edges of his wide-open plates.

He almost whimpered, his hands fisted at his sides.

"Aria, please. I can't...I can't watch you do that. I'll come."

She smiled and twisted her biotic toy inside him, and he keened again.

"That's the idea, isn't it?"

"I'll come really quickly," he said. He didn't seem aware that he was moving, his hips thrusting in rhythm with the toy in his ass.

"If you do, there will be trouble. Open your eyes, Archangel."

He opened his eyes and looked at her, and she tossed him a pleased smile before she wrapped her lips around his cock and slid down slowly. She made her toy keep pace with her, moving in counterpoint to her mouth as she slid her mouth up and down slowly, keeping just the lightest suction going because any more would ruin him.

He moaned softly, and Aria smiled around her mouthful with a pleased hum that sent him nearly twisting off the bed. Males were all the same. Get your lips around their cocks and they were putty in your hands.

"Spirits," he moaned, and she sped up a little, then more, sucking harder and using her tongue. She could feel him closing on his orgasm, the needy whimpers interspersed with curses, the way his entire body started tensing.

She pulled back and smirked at him.

"There, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

"Spirits, Aria. P-please. Please, I need..." He trailed off, his hands wandering helplessly over the sheets, but there was nothing there that could help him.

Aria found herself laughing as she threw one leg over his body, bringing her sex into contact with his. He thrust up helplessly, sliding against her slickness and making her gasp.

"Is this what you need?" she asked, a little breathless. Her core was already slick and wanting, clenching in hungry anticipation. There was no need for him to know that, though.

"Aria,  _please_ , I'm  _begging_ you, I need…" Whatever he was about to say was lost in a high, keening cry as she slid herself down him, thrusting the phantom cock into him hard at the same time.

"Oh, that's better," she said, smiling, and rested her hands on his arms. "If you come before I do, Archangel, there will be consequences."

He shuddered under her and began fucking up into her in earnest, trying to keep a steady rhythm despite the way she twisted her little biotic toy inside him. He was wide, as turians tended to be, and had that delightful texture they all shared, and Aria found herself whimpering quietly in time with his thrusts.

It was time to stop teasing him, she decided, and evened out her thrusts. She didn't notice that she had relaxed the grip on his wrists until one hand slipped between them and found the pulsating bundle of nerves at her core and she came apart, whimpering as she clenched around him. The only biotics she managed to keep going was the phantom cock, and as the world went white around her she let it discharge tiny biotic shocks inside him.

He screamed as he came, both hands on her hips as he slammed up into her repeatedly.

They both sagged for a moment before she pulled herself together and stood up.

"Good boy," she purred, patting his head as she tugged her jacket back into place.

He mumbled something incoherent as she walked away, naked from the waist down, but when she was almost at the door he called after her.

"Hey, Aria," he said. "Does this mean I broke Omega's one rule?"

She laughed at him over her shoulder.

"Don't count on it, Archangel."


	7. Jack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 7 - Jack  
> by Lady Aimee Krios

 

_Why the hell did I agree to this? Damn Shep, fucking the turian because he's a whiny bitch? Damn. I wanna kill shit._

Jack paced in front of Shep's quarters waiting for entry. She didn't really know why she'd agreed to this. Curiosity maybe? Or maybe just boredom. Or because Shepard had asked, Jack didn't know, but she was sure a few bottles of Ryncol would clear it from her memory; if it was too bad to want to remember.

_Not been laid in a while, dumbass shore leave, may as well jump on the band turian,_ she thought; not that she needed to justify herself. She was the Psychotic Biotic and would fuck whoever she damn well pleased.

Lost in her thoughts she continued to pace until she heard the sound of the door chiming, giving her leave to enter. Mordin had been poking and prodding her for a while now, irritating her and making her wish she hadn't agreed to this.  _Who the fuck cares if I have a reaction? My biotics will burn the shit away quickly enough._ Waving aside the fussing salarian she entered the room to come face to face with Garrus.

Taking him in, from his clenched fists to his dazed eyes she couldn't help but the snarky greeting that slipped out, "You look like shit, Spikes."

_Damn, Shep said be nice. But what the fuck did she expect? I don't_ do _nice,_ she thought with a grimace.

"Yeah, I know. I'm surprised you volunteered for this," he said, his subvocals as rough as his voice as he growled out the words. He seemed almost regretful but she didn't really care. She had agreed and she kept her word. This turian wasn't going to know what hit him.

"Couldn't resist the chance to fuck you up," she said snidely, giving up on the idea of being nice at all. Garrus just stalked around her, his movements sleek and predatory. He seemed to be studying her, but she didn't turn to follow him as he left her vision. To do so would seem weak; something she would not allow.

Shrugging, she began to move away from him, she didn't get far though, as taloned arms wrapped around her stomach, dragging her back into a hard, plated chest. With a growl she struggled slightly, not allowing him dominance over her.  _Not happening buddy,_  she thought lighting her biotics.  _I'm in control of this show._

Garrus stopped her from pulling away by sinking his teeth into the sensitive skin of her neck, making her groan as his hand hooked under the tight banding of her top.

"Fucker," she snarled, grinding her rear into the thick arousal pressing against her. The leather that had held her breasts fell in tattered strings to the decking, his claws making short work of them in his impatience. She didn't care about the clothing, or the fact he was somehow in control. His savage hunger only made her need to please him now.

His tongue replaced his teeth on her neck as his hands rose to cup her breasts roughly. Jack purred in delight when he scraped his talons across the peaks, almost drawing blood but not quite. He had been slowly grinding his shaft into her, each flex of his hips driving them both insane with need.

It was Garrus who snapped first, throwing her to the bed with a deep, rolling snarl.

She lay there, looking up at him with hooded eyes, her bare, tattooed breasts rising and falling rapidly. He prowled towards closer, his hands gripping her raised knees and parting her legs roughly before kneeling between them.

"I can't be gentle," he panted, almost apologetically as he almost ripped her pants from her legs, "Not now, not with you.

He ran one of his talons over the damp heat of her core making her buck into his hand. She was already coated in her need for him, each pass of the digit bringing more shudders to her trembling body.

"I don't want gentle," she purred, her back arching in pleasure as he buried one of his claws into her heat. She was silently glad he had them blunted, knowing he would have torn her if he had kept them sharp. His rough exploration of her sex almost sent Jack over the edge of the rapidly rising climax building between her legs.

"Fuck..." she gasped when he bent his head to lap at the tight bud at the centre of her pleasure. His long, rough tongue doing things no human or even asari could do. She almost screamed, her biotics flaring as he began to move his hand, the movements tipping her over the edge.

He let her ride out the sudden climax, his ice blue eyes on hers as she panted, hardly able to breathe. As soon as the aftershocks had abated he forgot all mercy, standing tall and proud as he released his glistening member from the tight confines of his trousers. He stopped for a second, letting her take in the sight of him.

"Garrus..." she whispered, feeling a moment of apprehension, "I... I've never been with a turian..."

Shamed by this for some reason she closed her eyes. He didn't need to see her weakness. She had only ever fucked human or asari, not wanting the emotional drama of mating species like turian or drell. Hearing him growl she looked up, seeing the fierce expression on his face.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt or claim you. But I will be your first..." he hummed, his subvocals sending shivers through her. For some reason she didn't mind his words, though normally they would have pissed her off.

With a nod she gave him her permission to continue, something he did without hesitating, slamming into her with a low groan. She bucked, the sharp pain only adding to the pleasure of him filling her as his head dropped to rest his forehead against hers.

"Fuck..." she groaned as his hips began to move, plunging his thick shaft into her body with relentless strokes. Wrapping her legs around him she explored his back with her hands, occasionally raking her nails over the plates making him thrust harder. She knew they wouldn't last long, not with the heat they had built. Biting his neck she urged him on.

His pace increased, becoming almost animalistic as he started to reach his own climax, "Spirits, woman..."

His words, combined with the desperate slamming of his hips into hers and the claws cutting into her hips as he held her steady sent her soaring. She shattered at the same time he did, their essences blending deep within her. Garrus didn't stop as she expected. He reared back, dragging her down the bed until he stood with her hips raised off the bed by his strong hands.

"I'm not done yet woman," he purred raggedly, his shaft still rock hard, despite his release. He began to thrust again, the sound of their flesh meeting filling the room, broken only by their moans.

Jack was overloaded with sensation. Pain, pleasure and a spiraling high that only a mind-shattering climax could bring. He had taken her higher than she had ever been, her body responding to every touch and groan like a well-loved instrument. She didn't care anymore, she needed him to dominate her; to claim her.

"Garrus... fuck... please," she almost begged as she came in a rush, thanks to his talon circling her clit with firm strokes. He growled, slamming into her now, brutally taking her, making her his.

She couldn't take much more, each climax sending her further from reality. He seemed to sense this and it spurred him towards his final release, this one more intense than any of hers put together. With three hard thrusts he emptied himself into Jack with a high keen of pleasure before slumping down on top of her.

After a while he rolled to his side, his still half erect shaft sending another ripple of heat through her body making her fists clench. She had to resist the urge to straddle him, knowing that no matter how much she wanted to, continuing would only end up in her having a worse reaction to his essence.

"Damn, Spikes. We gotta do this again sometime," she said, reaching over to her pants and pulling out a cigarette, his low chuckle met with the sound of her lighter as she pressed the tip to the flame with a sigh. She looked over at him, appreciating the sight of him sprawled out on the bed.

"I'll be on top next time, Vakarian. You in control was a one time thing," she said, exhaling a cloud of blue smoke into the air.

"We'll see if you can best me," he responded with the turian equivalent of a grin.

Jack laughed, her own grin spreading over her face, "Oh, I look forward to the challenge,"

 


	8. Miranda

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 8 - Miranda  
> By bluekrishna

 

"Cheerleader." That sneer, always that sneer.

"Psycho." Miranda replied, her tone cordial. These opening salvos that presaged all of their conversations with one another had become almost ritual, almost endearment.

"Fancy seeing you here. Guess Shepard must be really desperate if she's calling in frigid cunts like you." Jack said, her eyes glittering with malice.

"Always a pleasure, Jack. I see time hasn't taught you any manners. Some things never change." Miranda brushed by the biotic and let the words roll off her back. Just as she'd always done.

Predictably, Jack had to have the last word, "Don't know what the fuck use you're gonna be in there. He'll probably freeze his pecker off in that ice box you call a vag."

Miranda turned away from the biotic so Jack didn't see the wince Miranda couldn't quite hide. But Jack knew. Jack always knew how to push Miranda's buttons. Laughter chased her into Shepard's guest room. She moved out of the way of the two doctors that bustled in behind her.

She watched from the corner of the room as Chakwas and Mordin checked Garrus' vitals. Her heart hammered away as she thought about why she came.

It had been so easy to rationalize on the way here. Telling herself that it meant nothing, that this would just be treatment for his condition, nothing more. Now as she stood here, well, the immediacy of it overwhelmed her. Could she really go through with it?

Part of her said run away, far away. But worry filled the cracks in her resolve like so much mortar as her eyes tracked the changes on the many monitors in the room.

Garrus was not doing good. Not good at all. Pulse thready, lapses in awareness, not to mention severe dehydration. Twenty some odd hours of solid physical exertion took their toll on even his body, fit as he was. He couldn't even be allowed sleep. It could kill him. And there was no end in sight. No alternative treatment worked so far.

Yes, she worried. Because as much as she'd like to deny it, sometime between Shepard recruiting him from that den of iniquity, Omega, and bringing him along to help Miranda with her sister, Miranda found herself having thoughts about the turian, and...feelings. He was courageous and skilled; brutally loyal and could be as ruthless and relentless as Miranda herself. There were many admirable qualities to the man. So she'd admired him. And in turn, came to relish how he never treated her less than courteously.

She shocked herself at how panicked she'd been at the Collector base when Garrus had taken that round to the stomach.

Shepard had been closer and went to him, but Miranda had heaved a huge sigh of relief when Garrus stood straight, uninjured. No one else heard it, thank God. She'd have been mortified if anyone had found out about her secret.

Miranda had gotten very good at hiding it. The pounding of her heart any time he was near, the chills she felt when he spoke to her...or about her.

She knew Shepard's crew never liked her. Words, hurtful names or comments she was probably never meant to hear like 'Ice Queen' or 'Cerberus Sexbot' or 'Wonder if the Illusive Man ever tapped dat ass?' struck her deeply, but never showed up on her frozen mask of a face.

Worse when  _he_ laughed at them. It tore at the fluttery little boudoir at the heart of her.

She'd once entertained fantasies about confessing her feelings to him. But then she'd seen how he looked at Shepard and knew, that avenue was closed. He loved Shepard, and Shepard loved Garrus. They were perfect. How could she put herself between them?

This silly infatuation did nothing to help compose her now. Her knees felt weak and unsteady. Again, she pondered just chickening out. She knew Shepard wouldn't blame her, but could she face that worn countenance with its aching openness without flinching? Shepard was more than worried, she was terrified of losing Garrus. They were running out of bodies to throw at this thing, Miranda knew.

Chakwas gave her a nod as the two doctors left with all their equipment, signalling that Garrus was stable enough for another 'session'. Miranda took a deep breath and stepped closer to the bed. His scent filled her nose, spicy, enticing. Now, or never.

She stripped and slid into the bed with a hitching breath. The heat of him, like a volcano. The plates under her hands somehow rough and silken at the same time. Her eyes rolled back into her head as he groaned in that glorious voice of his. She wondered if he was even really aware of her yet.

Miranda crawled up his body, pressing herself to him to get as much skin to skin contact as possible. Her heart pounded madly as she pulled herself up face to face with him. That face she studied when he looked elsewhere or while distracted by combat or other pressing concerns.

It looked so fierce, with its angles and planes, its cobalt markings that broke into uneven lines on the scarred side. She wondered how she could love so alien a face, with its insect like mandibles. But the eyes undid her every time. She'd seen them flinty with anger and warm with compassion; racked with pain and twinkling with humor. There was nothing alien about those eyes.

Well, now he peered right at her with them. She saw there a spark of recognition at last.

His mandibles flexed as he said, "Miran-"

"Shhh." Her hand covered his mouth. No words, just this. Let her have this, however brief.

Miranda found him hard and erect against her flank and touched him with one hand, teasing the velveteen skin with a palm. She worked him from tip to base and soon he was rolling his hips into her with eagerness.

That panting mouth tempted her to taste and she bent to it, kissing him with all the passion she kept locked beneath her cold visage.  _I am not a cold statue. I am a woman, with a woman's heart. Hear it roar. Feel it ache to be with you._

Tongues flicked and entwined around each other as she drank of him deeply. Like she was a plant dying in a desert and he, a little fall of rain. Her fingers worshiped his body, stroked all the bits of him that made him shudder so delightfully against her.

Heart swelling as she gazed down at him, Miranda guided his cock to her entrance and slowly impaled herself on it. So hot that she felt it might burn her, she slid down until it lay fully sheathed within her. For a long time, she stayed like that, savoring the moment. His hands roamed over her skin, making her quake with longing.

Then she began rocking, slow and sweet, moaning as she threw her head back. He let her control the tempo. Miranda closed her eyes and did her best to pretend that this really was lovemaking. That those touches on her bare flesh were born of tenderness and love. Not the poison in his blood. It could almost be true.

She nearly tasted it, what it might feel like to be loved by him. She felt foolish for allowing it to touch her secret heart, but why not? What better time than now? She let go.

A tidal wave of sensation rose and broke over her time and again. The climaxes, each greater in magnitude that the one before, swallowed her inhibitions whole. She rose and fell on him with abandon until her legs ached with exertion. With heaving gasps, she lay upon his chest, pressing her cheek to his cowl.

Garrus rolled them so she was under him. His face filled with conflicting emotions as he picked up the pace. Miranda let her fingers ghost along that scarred cheek. He was magnificent, brave and true. She felt on the verge of breaking as he took her over the edge countless times. His beautiful spirit shone out at her through the glassy pain of his illness. Miranda bit her lip as she gazed up into his intense blue eyes. Her vision blurred and a small whimper escaped her.

His thrusts slowed to a halt and she felt talons card their way through her long hair. So gentle, so full of caring. Garrus' voice rumbled to her in a whisper, "Why are you crying, Miri?"

Was she? And how had he known her nickname? She leaned into the calloused thumb that wiped her tears away and trembled. A dangerous thing, this. Maybe she should never have come here.

Miranda blinked rapidly and whispered in reply, "Don't stop. Please...don't stop."

Garrus held her against his chest as he did as she asked. He didn't slow even as her tears rained against his neck. Finally, he finished with a series of broken 'ahs'. She could feel him fill her barren womb with his seed.

Then, after, against expectation, he held her as she wept. And weep she did. For how long, she couldn't say. Only that in the warm circle of his arms, she felt safer and more cared for than she could ever remember feeling. Oh, how she envied Shepard.

At last, her crying abated and she pulled away, looking at him in embarrassment. She never meant to lose control like that.

Garrus watched her with concern in his face. He said, "Wasn't that bad, was it?"

Miranda chuffed a weak laugh and said, turning away, "No, it's not that."

"Then...what is it?" It seemed he was more himself right after a 'session' than at any other time. That could be problematic if he continued to pry. She saw conclusions being drawn in the depths of his eyes.

"Nothing. It's-it's nothing." Miranda rolled to the edge of the bed and stood, ready to flee now she'd done what she could for him. As she dressed, she wondered how long it would take her to forget, how many bottles of booze it would take. How many pills.

Did she really want to forget, though? She glanced at the chronometer. Three hours, three whole hours with him. She wondered if she could cradle the memory close without it cutting her too badly.

"Bullshit, Miri. I've never known you to run away before." His tone verged on angry. "Did I hurt you?"

_Not as you could see,_ she thought. His concern touched her. It made her turn back to him and she weighed her words with care, "She loves you, you know."

"What? Who?" His befuddlement was charming, in and of itself.

She suppressed a smile as she said, "Shepard. And you love her."

"Miri-"

"No, listen. If you love her, then love her as hard as you can. It isn't always returned. We aren't all a-as lucky." She held a hand up to forestall the words that she could see about to tumble out of his mouth, "Whatever else happens in this room, she loves you. Hold onto that. Nothing else matters."

As long as he was happy, nothing else mattered. Miranda continued, "I'd um, appreciate it if this, uh, if no one..."

Garrus nodded and smiled, "No one will ever know Miranda Lawson can cry. You have my word."

With a sigh of relief, she said, "Thank you, Garrus. Wouldn't want my reputation ruined."

"It's safe." He reached out and squeezed her hand, "If you ever need to just...talk, Miri..."

Miranda swallowed and nodded. No, too dangerous to be near him and Shepard. It tempted very unwise decisions.

She left him then and ran away. Earlier, he'd been wrong, she'd always been running. All her life, she ran towards... _something_. Some  _thing_  missing in her life. She hadn't known what it was until he,  _they_  showed her. Shepard and Garrus. That the possibility of finding perfect trust and understanding in another existed at all gave her hope.

She started to believe that maybe she didn't love him as much as she loved them. Both of them. Strange.

Maybe once this latest self inflicted wound to her spirit healed, she could find someone to return her feelings. Someone worthy. Someone like him. But not him, because she could never deny Shepard what she herself yearned for. She couldn't be cruel as others had been to her.

For now, she'd wear the mask and wait. And hope. Maybe she could be lucky one day.

 


	9. Samara

Chapter Nine

By Inkess

Samara rang the buzzer on the door leading to Shepard's apartment and adjusted her uniform. She had decided to wear black this time. It was more appropriate for the occasion. Red was the color of passion for many species, and that was exactly what she wanted to avoid. Her mission here was different.

Shepard opened the door after a small delay. She looked... tired. Exhausted. Worn out. Samara's help was needed most urgently.

Samara straightened, keeping her features perfectly placid. "I am here to see Garrus, as we agreed."

"Come in." Shepard turned on her heels, and motioned at Samara to follow.

Samara's heels clicked on the floor as they passed through the long hallway and the living room.

Various members of the  _Normandy_ crew from both present and past sat or lay on the couch in front of the fireplace, barely lifting their heads as she walked past, staring at her in silence with bleary eyes. Even Jack and Miranda were content to just trade icy glares, forgetting their usual need for verbal duels.

The situation was worse than she imagined.

"He's in the guest room." Shepard turned to face her. "This way."

In front of the door Shepard indicated stood the two doctors from the  _Normandy_  while she was there. Thank the Goddess, they didn't look at all like the people in the living room. Instead, they appeared worried, even distressed.

"... is sleeping now," Dr. Chakwas said.

"Careful. Can't stay inactive for long. Risk shock and heart failure," Mordin replied.

Shepard cleared her throat. Both doctors looked up.

"Samara!" Dr. Chakwas exclaimed. "I didn't expect to find you here! I thought Justicars don't have sex."

"The Code does not demand abstinence. It is a matter of personal choice." Samara clicked her heels together. "However, it provides help in controlling the urge for those who choose it. It could help Garrus, too."

"Unwise." Mordin shook his head. "Problem not of mental nature. Pure chemistry. Patient needs sexual activity or dies. Suggest traditional approach." He stabbed her with a syringe in the arm before she could stop him.

Samara didn't flinch at all. Instead, she asked calmly, "What was that?"

"Helps neutralize dextro organic material."

"I will not need it."

"Patient extremely... persuasive. Better safe than sorry."

"I will not need it," Samara repeated, straightening even more. "May I come in?"

Dr. Chakwas sighed. "If you wish. It's time to wake him up, anyway. Just... Just be careful if you see that your method isn't working."

"It is most effective. It has worked for me, for... for a very long time."

Samara took a deep breath, hoping they didn't notice how she stumbled for words. Then she entered the room. The air assaulted her nose with the stench of sweat and... and... something sharp and spicy. She swallowed hard and closed her eyes.

In another time and another life, before her bonding and giving birth to her poor, tortured children, Samara loved,  _loved_  turian mercenaries. Images long forgotten flashed in her mind's eye.

_Goddess, show me your light._

The first line of the ancient chant helped her regain control. She opened her eyes to see a stark naked turian lying in a large bed. His was oblivious to the world around him, but not asleep. Her gaze flicked immediately to a spot above the headboard, trying to ignore the swift, needy motions of his hand wrapped around his member. Just the first, quick glance made her feel uneasy.

"You are supposed to be sleeping," she said softly.

His eyes flew open, but his hand didn't stop even for a moment.

"S-Samara?" he rasped. "I can't... I can't find peace even for a moment... Can't stop..." The words tumbled out of his mouth, as if he wasn't fully aware of his actions.

"I can help you." She moved closer to his bed, careful not to look any lower than his chest plates. "Your mind can control your body."

"Can you?" he pleaded. "I'm tired... Need to sleep."

"First," Samara began, putting authority in her voice, "you need to stop doing that." She flicked her eyes at his waist for a moment before averting them again.

He was well-endowed, even for a turian.

_Goddess, help me stay on your path._

He took a deep breath. "Done."

"Put your arms under your head."

He obliged.

Samara sat on the bed next to him, crossed her legs and cupped her palms in front of her chest. She focused on working the strands of dark energy around her… but nothing happened. The heat radiating from Garrus was… distracting. It would help if he didn't smell so inviting, too.

_The Code is my guide._

This time, the blue swirls filled her eyes and formed around her fingers. Through the haze they created in her vision, she saw Garrus' body twitching. His mandibles were unnaturally stiff. Was he… in pain?

The tendrils of biotic energy travelled from her palms, wrapping Garrus in a coat of blue glow.

"Look into the light."

It took him some time, but his eyes finally focused on the swirling dark energy in her hands.

"I will recite the Chant of Control and the dark energy will help you focus on it and master your… urge."

He stared, unblinking, and nodded after a while.

"Goddess, show me your light. Goddess, help me stay on your path. The Code is my guide. The Code is my sanctuary—Garrus!"

His hands snuck from under his head and crept towards his member. His ridged, erect member. Just before he reached it, Samara formed biotic shackles around his wrists, freezing his arms in place.

"You have to cooperate."

Her throat felt like it was coated with sand. The words hurt on the way out.

"I… can't," he whined. "And your uniform isn't helping!"

His eyes were still fixed on the biotic swirl in her palms… or rather on her cleavage behind it, Samara realized belatedly. Looking down at her breasts, she noticed them rising and falling fast. Too fast for someone who had just recited the Chant of Control.

"You just need to focus," she replied. Her voice wavered, as if she didn't believe her own words. If it wasn't working for her, then how it was going to work for him?

"Let me go!" he snarled, squeezing his eyes shut. "It's not working!" He panted for a while, his entire body arching."It hurts! Are you trying to kill me?" His body went limp and he twitched, whimpering quietly.

What was she doing? Torturing an innocent turian because  _she_  wasn't strong enough to control herself?

"Please… let me go," he begged now, still twitching. There was something in his subharmonics that made her heart ache.

She released the control of the dark energy, realizing that her heart wasn't the only part of her that ached. Her hand moved without her permission to curl itself around his shaft, fingers sliding over the ridges..

He choke on his breath.

"I want to help you," Samara murmured, aware that her voice was huskier than usual, deepened by unintentional desire.. "Really help you." Her hand moved, slowly at first. "I did not realize your situation is so… dire."

He moaned low as Samara picked up the speed, stroking the sensitive bundle of nerves on each pass of her hand.

"More," he demanded. He opened his eyes to stare at her, and they were wild, lost. He didn't look like the Garrus she knew at all. She wondered if he knew or cared who was providing ministrations at this point. Did… did she make him go insane with her earlier attempts?

Overwhelmed with guilt and… and something else, Samara put her knowledge of turians from days past to good use. Each move of her hand, while swift, was calculated and focused on giving him pleasure. One moment she stroked the tip, the other she caressed the plates at its base.

Garrus responded by bucking his hips in the rhythm of her hand. "More… I need more," he growled through rapt breaths.

Samara swallowed hard. This was getting close to breaking her personal code. Still, the  _command_  in his subharmonics was impossible to resist. She had to comply.

Moving even closer to him, Samara dipped her head and gave him a long, warm lick along the shaft. He stilled, surprised, and let out a deep growl, the subharmonics urging for more. She did it again, even slower this time, savoring the metallic taste along the way.

How long it had been since she tasted it last? She couldn't tell.

She bent over him again, this time to take the tip in her mouth. The texture under her tongue felt so familiar and yet strange. She hesitated.

 _This is not against the Code,_  she encouraged herself.  _You are helping a sick person in need. As long as you do not—_

His talons found her way to her scalp, caressing her under the tentacles. Samara fought hard against the warm feeling it was giving her.

_As long as you do not feel pleasure, it will be all right._

The problem was, his touch was already undermining her resolve. The desperate growls he kept making didn't help either. Her tongue moved on its own, teasing the tip. She hesitated to do anything more. It was embarrassing, but years she spent out of practice took their toll. She couldn't bring herself to continue.

Garrus took control, saving her the dilemma. He pushed her head down, making her take him in completely. His hips bucked again and she let his hands guide her. Obscene sounds echoed in the room from her mouth, mixed with his moans and ultimately a scream.

Her mission done, Samara pulled back, thankful for the shot Mordin gave her earlier. Just how did he know? It didn't matter, as long as she didn't need to worry about allergies.

Garrus, when she looked at him, was the picture of peace. He lay perfectly still except for his mandibles that fluttered as he breathed. She did it. She helped him. Smiling to herself, Samara dragged herself out of the bed. Better leave him to take some rest.

Before she got very far, a taloned hand grabbed her wrist.

"Samara…" he whispered. He looked better, more focused, but his eyes still weren't quite his."Stay. Please. I want… I want you."

Samara panicked. Her instincts told her to tear her hand out and run away, not looking back. Instead, she froze, unsure what to do.

It was enough.

Garrus tugged on her hand, pulling her closer again. She didn't know how it happened, but she found herself on top of him, straddling his waist. Not wasting time, his talons crawled under the upper part of her uniform, peeling it off.

Samara covered her breasts, suddenly feeling self-conscious. Nobody had seen her like this ever since… ever since…

"Let me look," he demanded.

She shouldn't be here. She shouldn't do this. Sex was a dirty weapon of evil, used by her daughter to twist and kill. The mother of such a monster wasn't allowed to do the same, let alone feel any pleasure for it.

And yet she remained where she was.

"Let me look at you," he repeated. Again, his subvocals carried a note of command to them. They plucked on strings inside her that she didn't know she had. She had to obey.

She lowered her hands, allowing him full view.

"I didn't know you were so shy," he murmured, his eyes fixed on the darker blue of her nipples.

"I… I have not… in a very long time—ah!"

The blunt talons left fiery trails as they circled her breasts and teased the nipples. She closed her eyes, relishing the feeling.

"How long?" His mandibles perked up in a turian grin.

"Centuries, Garrus, centuries."

Normally, she would be proud of her self-imposed abstinence. But now, in this room full of turian touch, smell and taste – if she only lowered her head and kissed him – the only thing she felt was regret. Regret for missed opportunities.

She would not miss this one.

He made a muffled yelp of surprise when their mouths met. Something hard and cold cracked in Samara as their tongues touched. The sweet, nearly forgotten metallic taste hit her and her tongue pushed in further, exploring.

 _There will be a lot of praying and Code reading later_ , she thought as something poked her in the thigh. He was ready again.  _Now I want this more than anything… I want him.. I want to feel his cock inside of me._

The last shackles broke in her mind, freed by the forbidden word. She let her hands roam his body for a while, finally focusing on the sensitive spot all turians had under their fringe.

A fearsome growl resonated in his chest in response, and she found herself pinned under him in the next moment. The pants of her uniform disappeared in a split second, and she wasn't sure if they were still in one piece.

Not that she cared. Not that she cared about anything while she felt Garrus' talons sliding between her legs and caressing her folds. A small moan escaped her lips as he slipped a talon inside, teasing and exploring.

Much to her own surprise, she was already soaking wet. Garrus made eye contact for a moment, as if he wanted her permission. It was remarkable he had enough self control, because his eyes were full of that wild desire again, bordering on insanity.

Words failed her for the moment. She nodded.

Chuckling a little, Garrus took his hand away, replacing it with his cock, pushing inside with one swift motion.  _That_  was what she missed all these centuries, the feeling of being stretched by a turian cock, the ridges teasing her sensitive flesh. That was what she wanted from the moment she had stepped through this door.

"Fuck me, Garrus," she hissed through gritted teeth. The vulgar word still felt wrong in her mouth.

He didn't move. "Can't hear you," he chuckled again.

"Ah! Fuck me, Garrus!" she screamed.

Then he did move, at a slow pace at first, but ramming into her hard.

It wasn't enough. She wanted more, now.

"Faster, Garrus!" His name went out with a moan. She liked the sound of that. As he obliged, fucking her hard  _and_  fast now, she kept calling it many times.

"Gaaarrrrruss!" Samara saw her biotics flare up as her core trembled, sending electric shivers up her spine. Her hips now moved together with him, seeking more and more pleasure.

And yet, she couldn't come. Floating on the verge of here there, on the border of dark and light was thrilling at first, but soon became frustrating. The rhythm of his movement changed, and Samara knew he was nearing his release, too.

By the Goddess, she was going to  _finish_  this. Even if she, Samara of the Justicars, had to beg. It was embarrassing, but she couldn't take it anymore.

"Garrus… Garrrrusss," she whined. "So close… I can't…  _Please!_  Have to… Ah!"

The centuries of loneliness and longing shrunk into a small dot as Garrus found her most sensitive spot and assaulted it without mercy. The dot then expanded, bloomed, until she saw light. Goddess' blessed light that waited on the end of it all. Samara screamed as he continued to tease her until the last pulse of her core had finally subsided. Through the haze of her ecstasy, she heard something in the room tumble, knocked down by a discharge of her biotics. Garrus let out a hoarse shout of release soon after that, and lost all strength, collapsing over her.

They remained quiet for a while, neither of them feeling the need to move. Samara waited to feel guilt and regret probing her… but it didn't happen. She was happy, and at peace.

Finally, Garrus lifted his head from her shoulder and rolled off her. She felt her mandibles tickle her neck near to her ear canal.

"Thank you," he whispered.

She was silent for a moment, looking for the right words.

"No. Thank you."


	10. Liara

Chapter Ten

by Aelia_D

Liara paced, torn between frustration and anger. The entire situation with Garrus, and the drug, or whatever it was, felt so wrong. She worried about the impact on Shepard. The crew  _knew_ how Shepard felt about him; the feelings were clearly mutual, and their happiness was evident to anyone who looked.

She knew Garrus. She loved Garrus as a brother-at-arms. He was her friend, and friends helped each other. Even through situations like this, right?

But she wasn't doing this for Garrus, she was doing this for Shepard. She focused on it, trying to remind herself that it wasn't about him. It wasn't about the sex. It was about helping her friends. Doing what she could to keep the woman she loved from being unnecessarily hurt. Doing what she could to keep her  _friend Garrus_ from being hurt.

It would be so easy to make it all about Shepard.

So many things were.

From where she stood, she could see Shepard, on the sofa, looking more fragile than Liara could ever have imagined the commander could be. Thinking herself unobserved, Shepard hugged herself and stared into space.

Realizing that she could not put it off any longer, Liara sighed, and headed upstairs.

"Dr. T'Soni?" Mordin sounded startled. "I was not... expecting you."

"I know." Liara summoned a smile-just a small one-and took a calming breath. "But I'm here to help."

"Understood." Mordin nodded. "Wait here." He stepped into the room, Liara heard him exchange a few quiet words with someone, and then he came back out. "One moment. Evaluating patient's condition."

As they stood there, he pulled out a syringe and a small bottle. She offered him her arm, allowing him to give her an injection. It would protect her body from his different chemical structure. She breathed slowly, trying to find her center, to prepare herself for what was to come.

It was too late to back out, she reminded herself. If she were to walk away now, there would be questions. Questions she couldn't begin to answer. She could not imagine having to explain her feelings for Shepard. Liara had worked so hard to bury them, and today threatened to out her.

She resisted the urge to let her imagination run loose, instead trying to focus on the fact that she was helping her friends. Both of them. It was difficult, though; her thoughts kept circling back to the way that her friends and acquaintances seemed to be falling all over themselves to fuck Garrus... but no, that was a dangerous line of thought.

And yet, she couldn't help picturing Garrus' smug smirk as he bedded a variety of partners. He was almost certainly  _enjoying_ himself.

Meanwhile, Shepard suffered.

"You may enter," Mordin said, his voice cutting through her thoughts. She bit her inner cheek to resist saying something she might regret. Something which might reveal the anger she currently held in check with only the barest threads of self control.

Garrus would get what was coming to him.

She squared her shoulders, and entered the room.

Garrus sat on the edge of the bed, the sheets disheveled, one loosely draped over the obvious bulge in his lap. He drank water, guzzling it from a clear bottle. He casually-possibly inadvertently-stroked himself with his free hand.

She stripped slowly, making a neat pile of her clothes. She folded them, smoothing the fabric carefully. Her gaze flicked to him, taking in the sight of him on the bed. Liara saw when he noticed her and began to stroke himself faster.

He opened his mouth, but Liara brought her finger to her lips-a human gesture she had picked up from Shepard-and he closed his mouth without speaking. Her emotions lingered too close to the surface, and a wrong word from Garrus could cause an outburst she would regret. His actions proved her hypothesis; he  _was_ enjoying it, and she wasn't sure she could forgive him.

She crossed the room to stand at the edge of the bed, and reached for his hands, pulling him to his feet. He caught her eyes, confusion clear in his gaze. She just managed a small smile, and bent over the bed, wiggling her hips a bit in invitation.

He didn't seem to need more.

His hands found her hips as he knelt behind her. His tongue darted out, running up the length of her slit and startling her even as it made her gasp. A low, dual-toned chuckle made her flush, but there wasn't time to dwell on that reaction, as he continued lavishing attention on her.

Garrus was precise in every aspect of his life, she discovered as he zeroed in on her sensitive areas. She had no data to compare to, but she imagined he was far more experienced than he had been at this time yesterday. It wasn't long before her arms shook with the effort of holding herself up as he pleasured her.

"Goddess," she groaned as she neared climax. His tongue flicked her clit, and that was all it took. Surges of pleasure coursed through her body as she came. A small laugh came from her partner, the sound so smug it made her anger bubble back to the surface.

He rose from his kneeling position, and lined himself up with her entrance.

"Ready?" He asked. When she nodded her assent, he thrust forward, filling her in one smooth motion. Her hands fisted, clenching the sheets as a ragged moan escaped her.

He gave her only a moment to catch her breath before he began moving, filling her, thrusting into her at a rapid tempo. He was so hard and demanding, and as the friction built, her gasps and moans escaped more freely.

He growled as he came. She felt the rhythm of his movement stutter, and then he was spilling himself in her. He sagged over her, his plated skin pressing into her back in a way that, while painful, was not entirely unpleasant.

After a few moments of catching his breath, he began to nuzzle at her neck. She shoved him away.

"No." She growled. "I'm here for sex, not intimacy."

"Liara?" He was bewildered, and for the span of a heartbeat she nearly felt bad for him. "What's wrong?"

"Just fuck me," she whispered, not wanting to face this. She was on the verge of crying, or maybe screaming, it was hard to say. The idea of having to explain it to him- and she would have to, if she freaked out- helped her keep herself in check. She didn't want to explain this to him; she was trying to help him because he was her friend, but she was not ready to face the emotional miasma roiling in her head.

"Fine," he growled, spinning her and throwing her down onto the bed. She landed with a bounce, and stared up at him. How  _dare_ he?

She opened her mouth to say something, but he silenced her with a look. She hadn't known he had it in him, and she was surprised to find she  _liked_ it. Arousal pooled low in her belly as her interest spiked.

His hands, large and rough as they were, caught her thighs and opened her legs. His tongue flicked her clit, and she nearly arched off the bed. One finger invaded her, pumping into her in time with his motions as he continued teasing her with his tongue.

She was close, so close.

Abruptly, he stopped.

"Talk to me, Liara," he said. "Talk to me, and keep talking, or I stop."

"Dammit, Garrus." She growled. And as she spoke, he flicked her with his tongue. When she stopped, he did, too. She waited a heartbeat, and then another. "Really?"

He was good as his word. And Liara, despite her better judgement, played his game.

"Fine, I'll talk." His tongue teased her, circling and stroking. "I'll talk all damn day about nothing if that's what you want." His finger began moving, and her orgasm started building once more. "I'll talk about everything and nothing until you beg me to stop."

If he noticed the panting gasps between her words, he didn't mention it. Her hands fisted in the sheets once more, and her hips lifted off the bed. It felt so damn  _good_  she'd do almost anything for him to keep going.

"I'm angry at you," she said, and though he faltered he didn't stop. He had told her to talk, so she would talk, and she would tell him, because she was tired of being quiet. Of being careful. He was the luckiest being in the galaxy, because Shepard loved  _him_ and he didn't appreciate it properly. She would  _kill_ to be where he was, to be Shepard's beloved. "The most amazing woman in the galaxy _loves_ you, and you're in here... screwing other people, and  _enjoying_ it."

The next thrust was angry, and just rough enough to send her over the edge. She clenched around his finger, her fists tightening in the sheets as a strangled cry tore from her lips.

"That's the most ridiculous thing you've ever said, Liara." Garrus said, shifting so he could meet her eyes. Her gaze slid away. He stood, and sat on the bed beside her. He didn't touch her, and she could see how it was taxing him. "I'm doing  _this_ so I can survive. For  _her_."

She knew that. She really did. But it was so easily lost in everything else. And she was so  _angry_. It was easy to pin it on Garrus' infidelity. But that wasn't it, was it?

Garrus' control was slipping. She felt, rather than saw him tense. It was her fault; she had come here for one simple task, and she was failing him. Liara moved, kneeling between his legs on the floor to reciprocate in wordless apology.

She didn't start small, instead wrapping her lips around his hardened cock, swallowing as much of it as she could fit in her mouth. He tasted... spicy. Metallic. She didn't know how to describe it, but it wasn't an unpleasant taste.

His fingers slid over her fringe, before curling under, stroking the sensitive spot at the base of her skull in a gesture of unexpected tenderness. She moaned around him. He took it as encouragement, teasing her, even as he pressed her head down, urging her to take more.

Her head bobbed rapidly. His panting increased. A rumbling growl was the only warning she received that he was about to orgasm. She prepared herself, and then spurts of fluid were filling her mouth and sliding down her throat.

When she'd recovered enough to speak, she looked up at him, blinking away the tears which burned behind her eyes and threatened to spill and shame her.

"I'm sorry, Garrus. I was unfair to you."

He nodded tiredly and sagged, falling back on the bed. It was clear to her now that he was exhausted, worn down.

"Apology accepted, Liara." He draped one arm over his eyes.

"Garrus?" She ventured, after a long period of silence. "I really am sorry. I know you would never-"

"It's... thank you, Liara." He interrupted before she could dig herself deeper.

She nodded, though he wouldn't see it. She dressed herself in silence, and before she left, she pressed one gentle kiss to his exposed mandible. She wasn't sure where they would stand when he was recovered, but she hoped that he would be able to forgive her.


	11. Nihlus

Chapter Eleven

by bluekrishna

 

She didn't look all that much different. No, scratch that, physically, she'd changed a lot. But under that, she remained much as he remembered. Same fire in her eyes. Same compelling earnestness thinly coated in an aura of discipline and command. And, just as before, that _flavor_  of barely checked violence and ruthlessness muddying the whole of it like an oily patina on a lake. No wonder they wanted her to be a Spectre.

Of course, this image of her might be heavily influenced by the N7-Hurricane she had aimed at his face.  _Perhaps I should have called ahead,_  he thought as he lifted both hands in to show how friendly he was.

His sudden appearance caused quite a stir. As it should, he supposed. He didn't even bother knocking, after all. A simple hack and he strolled in, with barely a pause in his stride. Impressive how quickly they'd responded. He'd rounded the corner and found himself at the business end of many a gun held in the hands of her people. That pleased him to no end. To see such stalwart defenders.

"Who the hell are you?" Shepard growled, craning her neck to try to peek up into his deep cowl. Her eyes widened as she found his eyes. He wondered if she recognized him. It wouldn't surprise him if she had, but a sudden revelation might not be the best thing for all parties concerned.

"Nih-" she began.

He lifted a hand and put a finger over his mouthplates; a curious human gesture. Turians communicated this same wish for silence with the set of their mandibles. "Can we talk?"  _In private,_  his tone implied.

She considered him for a long moment and, with eyes narrowed in suspicion, waved the others to lower their firearms. The human jerked her head to the side, indicating a side passage at the back of the apartment. He followed at a sedate pace, lacing his fingers behind his back.

A familiar scent filled his nostrils, along with the astringent smell of antiseptics and solvents. A scent that once saturated his pores. Sweat and lust and memories of long, heated nights. A shiver ran along his skin, trailing out to the ends of his extremities. He couldn't help but grin.  _He really is here._

The woman wheeled on him as soon as they were out of earshot of the others, "So which is it, hmm? Ghost, or clone? Or is this some sort of...joke assassination attempt?"

"Shepard," he admonished, with a shake of his head, "the only one around here that butchers humor is that pilot of yours."

"Take that ridiculous thing off your head. Cloak and dagger, my ass."

He couldn't help but notice that her finger never left the trigger of her SMG. One had to admire that kind of die-hard caution. Not that he could blame her. He did as she asked and peeled his hood back and down.

Shepard studied his face for a long time, her brows furrowing. Finally, she blinked and opened her vibrant, green eyes wide. "It  _is_  you. How? You fucking d-."

"Died? Yeah, I know. Hear it all the time."

She snorted. "Tell me about it."

"Maybe we should form a 'We Belong Dead' club." That obscure reference to an old Terran vid startled a laugh out of her and he watched her visibly relax. "For the record, I am mostly cloned tissue. I spent a whole year longer than you did dead. Not even the best refrigeration keeps the meat fresh for that long."

"Nihlus Kryik, back from the dead. I'm going to assume that Cerberus' super secret resurrection method got out." She shook her head and laughed. Nihlus noticed for the first time the bags of puffy flesh under her eyes, her wrinkled uniform.

"Don't worry. The process cost the Council so much that it's unlikely we'll all be neck-deep in the newly risen."

"Look, if you're here on the behalf of the Council with a mission, it's gonna have to wait-"

"No, actually, I'm here because…" It felt strange now, to say it out loud. But times were strange. That didn't stop him from squirming. "Because…" he trailed off again, musing over his shyness. Funny, he'd never been shy before he'd died.

Just then, the soft thumping in the other room that he hadn't really noticed built to a pounding. Punctuated by moans and the sounds of flesh slapping flesh. A female voice cried out, a male one groaned in counterpoint, the dual-toned croon of a male turian finding completion. Nihlus felt his plates flush. His tongue came out to flick against the inside of his mandible.

The soft light of realization lit Shepard's face and she laughed. "Oh, what, seriously? A little chemical accident and now everyone is coming out of the woodwork, and, in some cases, back from the ever-lovin'  _dead_ , to have a crack at my...sniper?"

The strange hesitation drew his attention. Nihlus focused on the haggard and weary expression on her face, the thin cracks in the veneer of her resolve. Obviously, there was a connection here he never contemplated. "He is irresistible, isn't he?"

His insight threw her, he could see, by the way her head whipped around to him. A dozen little humorous jabs floated through his mind, but he ignored their pull and said, "Look, I'm here to help a friend. A friend who always seems to get himself into trouble without planning a way out."

"So, you knew him befo-"

"Odd how the lines of fate cross sometimes, isn't it?"

"Indeed…" she mused as she watched him. He wondered if she saw the real reason past his whimsical tone. Nihlus expected nothing less of that sharp mind behind that flat, round face. This very second, he could almost feel her picking apart his motivations, his glib talk.

Shepard walked past him and out of the room, saying, "I'm going to go check on him. As I'm assuming you're here strictly incognito, you can stay here and wait for me to give the go ahead."

Nihlus hummed, pleased that not only did he not get himself shot that day, but he might get the chance to see an old, and very dear friend.

That same dear friend smiled wanly up at Nihlus from his sickbed. Clearly, Shepard broke the news already. Just as well. "Oh, Sunshine, what have they done to you?"

Garrus chuckled. "I could say the same thing to you. What, being dead was too boring for you?"

"No rest for the wicked." Nihlus chuckled, sitting at the edge of the bed. His mandibles flared out in a leer. "Speaking of wicked. Tell me this is all a clever ruse to bang every willing being on the station and you'll have my admiration forever."

"No such luck. It's really quite serious." Garrus grunted, rolling onto his back. The thin sheet that draped over his naked body did not do much to hide the conspicuous bulge below his waist. Beads of perspiration rolled down long, well-formed limbs. They begged him to taste. Nihlus felt heat course through him at the sight. Spirits, the man was still sexy as hell.

And the scent that wafted so deliciously into his nares. Nihlus' eyes rolled back into his head as he breathed it in as deep as he could. It tickled dormant memories into wakefulness and he grasped at them like a desperate man.

For all his flippant replies to Shepard's questions, his motives weren't all altruistic. He was a man with no past. Nobody waited for him, or mourned him. Only a very few even knew he lived, such as it was.

A warm hand grasped his thigh right above the knee and squeezed. Nihlus moaned, his pants suddenly feeling far too tight. His incredulous gaze locked onto bright blue eyes in a face inches from his own. Garrus' other hand went right for his crotch and Nihlus found his back arching into the kneading, rolling palm. He panted out between gasps, "And...here I thought...I was the one...that did all the seducing."

"A lifetime ago, maybe." Garrus hummed against his neck. Then he sat back on the bed and growled, "Why aren't you naked yet?"

Nihlus couldn't shed his clothes quick enough. Shirt, boots, pants; they all went flying in different directions. At last, he stood nude at the foot of the bed and stared at Garrus, who stroked himself while watching the Spectre disrobe. Watching that hand fly up and down that turgid length provoked an answering throbbing in his own cock.

The hungry need that shone from Garrus' eyes filled him with such desire as he could never recall feeling before for the earnest, stubborn boy he'd first met long ago on far Palaven. No longer shy, Garrus made an exhibition of touching himself, rolling his hips into his hand, his cock a shiny, wet spear between parted muscled thighs. It was enough to make a man weep in joy.

The heavy weight between Nihlus' legs seemed to grow heavier still as Garrus beckoned with one finger for him to come closer. He crawled on hands and knees up the length of the bed until he found himself eye to 'eye' with that cock. His hands planted on either side of Garrus' hips. The turian under him never ceased pumping away. This close, Nihlus could almost see the blood surging along the shaft, darkening the head to nearly purple. He thought to himself with a chuckle,  _Best seat in the house._

"Use your tongue." commanded Garrus. Shock flooded his system as the phrase awoke another memory.

Same words, nearly the same tone, in a darker, huskier voice. In his mind's eye, he saw the flash of silvery plates, nearly white in luster. The long sweep of zygomatic plates, a face made up of hard, cruel angles, but so very fascinating. How he'd spent hours tracing them with trembling fingers, amazed that the deadly biotic let him.

"Nihlus." Garrus' voice broke him out of his reverie. His head jerked up , eyes darting to meet the sniper's concerned look. "What's the matter?"

Nihlus laughed and shook his head, "Just some….leftover cobwebs. Memories that are still trying to shuffle back into place."

Garrus nodded in understanding and planted a hand in the center of Nihlus' chest, pushing him back onto his heels, then farther until he lay on his back with Garrus mantling over him like a predator. Nihlus swallowed hard as Garrus' teeth grazed over his chest, down his abdomen, nibbling on his hipbone on the way further south. He writhed as Garrus breathed a fevered breath over his impossibly hard erection.

A choked moan tore its way free of his throat as a hot tongue ran along his seam, where the base of his cock emerged from its sheath. As Garrus lapped at him, swirling his tongue around the shaft from root to tip, Nihlus bucked and cursed. He spared a moment for the thought that while other species always had their charms, only turian men knew just where to touch and how much.

Garrus' hands spread him wide and that glorious tongue flitted further down and found the puckered ring of his cloaca.  _Oh, fuck, yes. Spirits, Gods, Powers, don't let him stop now!_

And when it slid up inside him and touched that knot of nerves in his depths, Nihlus felt the sensation build to a mind-shattering peak and screamed as stream after stream of silvery cum spurted out onto his belly. Every flick against his prostate caused another surge of his essence to arc into the air.

The tongue slid free, but not before it conducted an amused rumble into the core of him, making him shake and shudder as he came down. Garrus hovered over him and said, "I don't remember it being that easy."

"What can I say? It's, um, been a while." he said, sheepishly. In the wake of the orgasm, he felt awake, alive. Maybe for the first time since he'd been flushed out of that rejuvenation tank. "Mmm, remember that night, at your father's villa? I was on that 'official' visit. You were home on leave."

"I remember quite a bit about that night, the least of which telling you you needed to be quieter."

"Where's the fun in that? Half the fun is the possibility of being discovered."

"We almost  _were_  caught...by my sister." Garrus' tone was stern, but Nihlus saw the twinkle of mischief there in his eyes.

"Buzzkill." Nihlus wrapped his legs around Garrus' waist and pulled him close, moaning to feel the sniper's steely member slide along his backside. Spirits, it was like a iron bar straight from the forge held against his flesh, like it could burn him. Why hadn't he ever let Garrus top before? He knew why. The Garrus of the past had been in awe of him, hadn't been aggressive enough to take the lead then.

Garrus huffed and trembled. Nihlus could see clearly now how much it cost the man to hold back and admonished himself for being so selfish. He'd come here for Garrus' sake, too.

The sniper pressed his cock to Nihlus' ass and rocked back and forth, slow and tantalizing. Teasing him with the feel of that blunt tip against his hole. "You want this? Tell me you want me to fuck you with this."

"Spirits,  _yes!"_ Nihlus hissed through clenched teeth. He raked his talons down Garrus' sides to hear him grunt and cried out as something large and hard pushed past the ring of his anus, stretching him to the fullest. It delved deep into his body in surges. Advance, retreat, going further in each time. Until Garrus sunk the last four inches of that cock in one push, causing Nihlus to expel his breath in one long, cry of, "FuuuuuUUUUCK!"

Garrus grunted, as he lay on the Spectre chest to chest. "Eloquent, as always."

"Shut up and fuck me." And fuck he did, rough and fast, just like Nihlus liked it. His own cock stood up once more, harder than ever as he watched through narrowed eyes Garrus losing control above him. Talons sunk deep into his thighs, teeth gnashed just over his throat. A deep, reverberating growl thundered from both of their chests. Nihlus panted, "More!  _Harder!_  I can take it."

With a strength that frankly surprised Nihlus, Garrus flipped him over onto his knees and pushed his face down into the sheets. That huge cock buried itself once more into his backside. He keened at how full he felt, how wanton and lewd it felt to have his ass up in the air. And have it taken with such ferocity.

He reached between his legs with both hands and pulled on his cock, eyes crossing from how the feelings compounded with the growing ache in his cloaca. At this rate, he wasn't going to last long this round either.

Nihlus came undone with a mewl as Garrus slammed home once, twice, then emptied his essences deep into the Spectre with a long, loud, drawn-out moan. It seemed to go on for ages; the pulse of the sniper's cock, the feel of his own inner muscles milking it for all it was worth. It felt like a gallon of it must have splashed all over his insides, leaking out around the intrusion to slide down the inside of his thigh to mingle with his own juices.

Garrus slid free with an audible pop and listed to one side like a felled tree, ending up in a pile of sweaty, heaving turian and looking no less delicious for it.  _Spirits save me, I just wanna eat him up._

One of Garrus' hands came up to tug at him. Nihlus, wincing from overtaxed muscles and other aching bits, let himself roll into the other turian. He smiled as Garrus wrapped one long arm around his waist and pulled him close. "Didn't really peg you for a cuddler, Vakarian."

"Things change. A little contact after helps me cope." The way Garrus shuddered after that simple statement was disconcerting. "I missed you, you know. When Shepard told me about Eden Prime, I didn't really believe at first that she meant  _you_. That  _you_  had died. That Saren would shoot you while your back was turned."

"Yeah, neither did I."

"Why did you drop your guard? You knew he was a bastard." Plaintive. Maybe he really did mourn. Nihlus couldn't deny a shock of warmth at the idea. That someone missed him.

Nihlus measured his words, "Did I think Saren had gone too far at times? Yes. Have I done equally bad things? Another yes. Did I think my one-time mentor and oldest friend would shoot me in the back of the head?" He sighed and continued, "No. Even I didn't think he was capable of what people told me he'd done after the fact. Years later. I still don't."

"But-" came the angry rejoinder. Nihlus forestalled it with a raised hand.

"This indoctrination thing is a very real, very palpable evil. I won't say it's completely to blame, that Saren didn't make unwise choices. But you didn't know him before. You didn't  _know_  him."  _Like I knew him._  Nihlus sighed, deep and weary, prodding that old sorrow in his heart like a toothache.

Garrus watched him like a hawk. "You two were…"

Nihlus snorted a laugh and shrugged, another very useful human gesture he'd picked up.

The sniper shuddered again, a look of disgust planted all over his face, "How could you even-?"

"Why not? Because he was ugly? Because he was a biotic freak?" Nihlus knew what others had thought of his old mentor, what hateful barbs were leveled at that straight back every minute of every day. Considering that Nihlus himself had been treated to similar for being an outlander, those superficial concerns never swayed him.

"Because he was...evil." Even Garrus seemed to check himself there, thoughts turning inward.

Nihlus ran his fingers over the blue lacquer on Garrus' face, tracing the symbols with his talon. "Maybe I have a thing for bad boys."

Now, Garrus laughed.

The Spectre hummed in good humor. "You should have seen him in his prime. Oh, he was like a shiny, deadly knife. The way he walked through his enemies, eviscerating them with a flick of his wrist. That cloak of arrogance and pride, like ice and fire. I could nearly jizz in my pants from just hearing him threaten someone. And the way he moved…Spirits…That was before the cybernetics, of course."

The sniper coughed, in mild discomfort. Nihlus could understand, but couldn't resist adding, "Mmm, and the things he could do in the bedroo-"

"Okay, okay, I get the picture."

"I don't think you do. Seriously, that man...Many were the times I wished I were of the feminine persuasion. I wanted to have his babies."

"That's a whole lot more information than I ever needed. Thanks." Then, he muttered something about nightmares and rolled away.

Nihlus rolled with him and clung to him, one leg thrown over Garrus' two. He made his eyes large and soulful, looking at Garrus from under lowered brows. He tilted his head coyly to one side to add to the effect. "Aw, Gaaarrrus."

Garrus shot him an incredulous look before chuckling. "What are you doing?"

"It's an advanced seduction technique I picked up from the asari. I believe it's called 'simpering'."

"I think you need to work on it."

"Speaking of work, I was thinking…you know how you wanted to be a Spectre and all back in the day and-"

"And my father aborted that plan by speaking to the Council directly and I suspect, to you, privately." His tone lacked the resentment Nihlus had been sure would be there and a clenched something near his heart relaxed, filling him with relief.

"Uh, yeah, he did. Anyway, it's never too late, right? I was hoping you'd like to consider picking it back up after this whole Reaper thing is taken care of."

" _If_  this whole Reaper thing is taken care of."

"What? Oh, Shepard will handle it. That woman doesn't know how to fail."

"No, she doesn't, does she?" There was a deep fondness in his tone. One that made Nihlus' guts do a little jealous flip.

"Soooo, you and she…?"

Garrus ducked his head a bit, "Yeah. I, I love her, Nihlus."

"Oh." He said, probably with more disappointment than he wanted. Nihlus smiled and said, "Offer still stands. You'd make a damn good Spectre, maverick that you are."

"I don't want to seem...ungrateful. And it is good seeing you again..."

"But?"

Garrus sighed, "But, even if there isn't some cushy retirement waiting for her or us or whatever, wherever she goes, I follow."

"Say no more, say no more. I get it. Can't say I'm not disappointed, but you gotta follow your heart, right?"

"Right."

"In the meantime, it seems something has come back out to play." Nihlus ran the tip of a talon over Garrus' re-emerged member and smiled to see it throb at his touch. "I never did get to taste  _you._  I seem to remember having a fondness for your flavor. Mind if I get...re-acquainted?"

Garrus laughed and waved at his own prick, "Not at all. So long as you finish what you start."

"My dear Vakarian, have I ever left you wanting?"

And on a tide of lust and laughter, Nihlus found the link he was searching for. Something to tie his past to his present. A kernel of granite on which to rebuild the foundation of his life. Maybe someday soon, all his uncertainty of who exactly he was when he looked in the mirror would be a distant memory. Shepard said it,  _'Ghost, or clone?'_

He'd been both, now he could see if he was ready to be truly alive again.


	12. Nyreen

Chapter Twelve

by Inkess

 

"Yes?" The female human in the doorway curved an eyebrow as she scrutinized Nyreen. Having a hood cover the most of your face wasn't the best way to inspire trust, the turian knew. She struggled the urge to fidget. "Can I help you?"

"Commander Shepard? My name is Nyreen Kandros," she replied. "I'm here on Aria's b—oh, hell." Why did the spirits make lying so difficult for turians? "I'm here to see Garrus Vakarian."

The other woman smirked. "You and the rest of the galaxy. Come on in."

_Well. That went easier than I thought._

As they walked through the giant apartment, Nyreen pulled her hood deeper over her face, trying to avoid the prying eyes of  _other_ people in the apartment. No one with ties to Omega wanted to be seen on the Citadel. No one except Aria, maybe, but the Queen of Omega held an entire league all by herself.

"He's in there." Shepard motioned at a door, giving Nyreen a chance to stop thinking about Aria. The commander put her ear to it and listened for several moments."I don't think he's with anyone right now, which means you're safe to come in."

"Just like that?" Nyreen found herself speaking. "You're going to let a hooded turian who blabbed out that she has a connection with Aria in there just like that?"

Shepard crooked her lips in a tired, tense smile. "Believe me, I've had weirder guests walk through this apartment ever since Garrus got into his little predicament." Her eyes narrowed, and something cold glinted in them for a split second. "Go on in. Have fun."

Shepard turned on her heels and left. Nyreen wasn't an expert on human facial expressions, but she could swear that was jealousy she just saw. Shrugging, she opened the door.  _Garrus Vakarian_  waited inside.

Sure enough, on the big bed in the centre of the room lay the turian she remembered from the time she still served with the turian military. The happiest time in her life. No biotics, no Aria. Just loyalty and service.

"I don't suppose you remember me," she began, pulling her hood back from her face.

Roused from his nap, Garrus blinked several times before focusing on her face. He shook his head, confusion clear in the way how he his mandibles flapped with the motion.

Maybe he didn't recognize her, but he certainly  _liked_  her presence, if the bulge protruding from under the sheet he was covered with was any indicator.

"Let me refresh your memory." Not wasting any time, Nyreen unbuttoned her coat and let it drop to the floor. Remaining only in a light tunic and pants, she moved closer to the bed.

The bulge increased even more.

"We served together on the  _Pride of Taetrus_. Your second year of required service, I believe."

"Oh." He at least  _looked_  like he was embarrassed. "Nyreen Kandros. Been… been a long time."

Stopping in the middle of unclasping her tunic, Nyreen pointed an accusatory finger at the turian on the bed. "You owe me a rematch!" She didn't fail to notice how his eyes snapped to her chest plates, revealed by the sudden movement. Smirking, she undid the rest of the clasps one by one, making deliberate pauses in between each one, and let the annoying garment join her coat on the floor.

His eyes went wide.

Nyreen reached for her pants. She would collect that debt soon.

"Let's… let's not talk about sparring matches." His mandibles stiffened, and his eyes tore away from her fingers working on the belt, looking at the door for a moment.

Nyreen clicked her mandibles. "I don't mind that you  _sparred_  with other girls. I know it was your trick to get laid. I was just happy I'd have  _Garrus Vakarian_  in my cabin for a night. And you didn't show up."

"That's not what I meant. And I didn't show up bec—uh!" His eyes went even wider.

Unhooking the pants from her spurs, Nyreen kicked them off her ankles in the far corner of the room. Now she stood naked before her old crush. Even after years spent as Aria's lover, being so exposed still fell embarrassing. Sometimes she hated herself for it.

"You have a chance to make it up," she said, feeling her heart pounding in her throat. Garrus had thrown his sheet aside.

All rumors flying around the  _Pride_  didn't give him justice. She stared at his pride, feeling her pelvic plates moving, shifting on their own.

In the next moment, she found herself pinned against the wall, Garrus licking on her mandible for a moment before sliding his tongue down her neck.

"I always pay my debts," he murmured into her cowl before sinking his teeth into her skin.

"Ah!" Nyreen shivered. Neck bites… she loved neck bites... Rough neck bites, and Garrus hesitated to go further from testing and teasing.

Of course. With all the soft-skinned women waiting outside, he'd have to be careful.

Bringing her talons under his fringe, Nyreen stuck them in between the spikes, reminding him that he had a turian woman in his arms. Garrus rewarded her with the sweet, sweet pain spreading in her neck. Her subvocals thrummed without her control as her plates shifted even more, leaving a visible opening now.

Two blunted talons found their way to that opening –  _of course he'd have to blunt them for those weaklings –_ circling around and around until it widened enough for Garrus to slip them under the plates.

Nyreen squirmed, but his other hand kept her hips pinned. She growled as his teeth sank even deeper, nearly tearing her rough skin. Her plates, being caressed on the inside, pulled away completely as a subvocal scream tore away from her mouth. Waves of pleasure mixed with waves of pain, leaving her panting and melted in his arms.

"Wow." She caught her breath in a few moments. "Wow."

Aria didn't lie about his skills. She had never had an orgasm so fast. Not that Aria's lovers were allowed to come before her, anyway.

What refreshment from her usual sex life.

Still dazed from the ecstasy, Nyreen didn't react in any way when Garrus hoisted her and carried her across the room. She let him drop her on the bed, forgetting this was supposed to be a fight, a rematch. The only thing she could think about were her still-open plates that longed to be filled.

Garrus towered above her, drinking in the sleek elegance of her body. Nyreen didn't think it could be possible, but his cock grew even larger and more rigid than before. It glistened, covered with its natural lubricant, gluing her eyes to his groin.

Noticing her stare, Garrus ran his hand up and down his shaft several times for her viewing pleasure. Her legs spread wide open as she watched, moving on their own, inviting him.

In the next moment, her vision was full of  _Garrus_  as he covered his body with his, settling between her legs. The tip of his member touched the gap in her plates, but didn't go any further.

"G-Garrus," she panted. "Just—ah!" He slipped his tongue under one of her mandibles and licked the sensitive skin there. The warm, wet feeling made her arch into him. He pulled away a little, teasing her even more.

Dammit, he tortured her worse than Aria. What should she do to make him fuck her? Beg? She could beg. Aria expected all her lovers to beg.

"I think I won round one," he murmured into her ear canal.

"Yes," she breathed. She would agree to anything at this point. "Let's start… round two… Please…" The words fell out of her mouth in between rapt breaths, desperation ringing in her subharmonics.

His tongue flicked under her other mandible, making her body seek his again. She needed to feel his plates on her.

This time, she felt his rod pushing a little in between her aching opening. "This what you want?"

"Spirits, yes!" she growled.  _Yes, yes, yes. Finally._

He granted her what she desired, pushing inside forcefully. The ridges on his member stroked her on the inside as he drove it in, making her purr.

It felt so much better than any of the biotic toys Aria could summon. Just plain, old turian fucking. No asari mental things. Just – her subharmonics keened in her throat as he began to move – the bump and grind. Exactly what she missed in all those years since she became Aria's pet.

Their plates cracked and clicked as he rammed her faster and faster, harder and harder. Nyreen dug her hands into the sheets, realizing that they weren't shackled with biotics. The thought of  _freedom_  made her crash her hips against him, seeking more and more pleasure.

He wasn't like Aria at all. Nyreen roamed his body with her hands, savoring the feeling of his muscles flexing under her talons. It felt so liberating to share and contribute, not just accept whatever Aria had planned for their moment of fun.

When the first, gentle wave of another orgasm shot up her spine, she didn't fight it like Aria expected her to. Instead, she drew it forward, rode it, moaned with every move of their bodies. Her core clenched as she reached the edge and fell over it, making Garrus tense up above her and purr.

_Yes, come together. That's how it should be._

The waves of pleasure kept coming as he pumped her several more times. His teeth locked on her neck again as his control snapped. She screamed as his heat filling her, and his moans against her cowl, and the pain blooming from her neck squeezed one last pulse from her, stronger than anything she had experienced before.

Her senses dulled for a while, leaving her in a quiet void that felt surprisingly pleasant.

Some time later, she opened her eyes to see the last tendrils of her biotics disappearing into thin air. Garrus held her close and let her head rest on his chest.

"I… I didn't know you're the cuddling type," she blurted out.

"I'm not… usually," he sighed. "But the time right after sex is the only time I can think clearly… and it lasts longer if I… if I… hold someone close."

Nyreen hesitated for several long moments, and then moved to caress the shorter spikes on the side of his head. Among turians this was a sign of affection, not passion.

"Thank you," he replied after a while. Did he thank her for the cuddling or the sex? Nyreen couldn't tell. "I know my condition looks like I'm having the time of my life… but, frankly, I'm tired. I don't know for how long I can keep this up." He paused. "And I need to survive.  _She's_  waiting for me."

Nyreen stopped caressing his head and inched away from him, ready to leave. She got what she wanted, and he got his moment of peace. Her presence wasn't needed anymore.

"Stay." He wrapped his arm around her. "I love her, and I'll do whatever it takes to keep myself alive, but it doesn't mean I have to be an asshole to those who help me." She relaxed into his body again.

Why couldn't Aria let her guard slip sometimes and… and treat her like a person with feelings? Did she even care? Was that even a guard, or did the Queen of Omega have no emotion at all? Nyreen closed her eyes, enjoying the quiet warmth of his embrace.

"I don't remember you using biotics on the  _Pride_." He broke the silence after a while. "Manifested late?"

"Yeah." She tensed up, fighting the urge to get up and run away. She hated talking about this. "They stuck me in a Cabal. No matter what you've heard, they're not elite. They don't get to do anything. My family treated me like a disgrace." The words just kept coming; she couldn't stop them. "I ran, tried to live as a mercenary, ended up on Omega. As Aria's…  _lover_." The last word came out with such contempt it surprised even her.

"You don't sound happy."

Nyreen thought for a moment. "No, I'm really not."

"So why don't you leave?"

She propped herself on the elbow, moving away from him again. "Leave Aria? You think that's easy?"

"We've had a couple of run-ins with her." His mandibles tensed up." She's not a goddess, and right now she's stuck on the Citadel, outside her seat of power. If there's a good time for leaving her, it's now."

"I'll… I'll think about it." Nyreen stroked the side of her neck, but in her heart she already knew the answer.

Tonight she wouldn't be sleeping at Afterlife _._

 


End file.
